Mommy Issues
by SR89
Summary: When Cameron's sister gets sick, House discovers the real reason Cameron likes damaged people. But now that he's fixed her sister, will Cameron and House be able to fix each other? HouseCam
1. Chapter 1

Cameron's alarm clock bleeped annoyingly, shocking her awake. She groaned, seeing the angry red numbers; 6.30 it blinked at her. It felt like she had only had a few minutes worth of sleep, though actually that was probably an accurate estimation. Cameron rolled over, reaching out to snap the alarm onto snooze, and then ran a finger through her hair. She hadn't bothered to brush it out the night before – she was too exhausted to do anything except crawl into bed, and as a consequence her hair was tangled with hairspray. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out the world. All too soon the familiar bleeping resumed and she dragged herself out of bed, pressing the 'off' button on the alarm. She wandered aimlessly through the darkness of her apartment towards the bathroom. Moments later she was standing under the comforting stream of water, shampooing her hair and trying not to remember what day it was.

"Hayley; I've called you three times already. _Get up_." Penny strode purposefully through her daughter's bedroom, shoving the curtains open and shivering as a blast of cold air came through the window. She snapped it shut angrily; "How many times have I told you _not_ to leave your window open overnight?" No reply came from the sleeping teenager in the bed, and Penny turned. She glanced at her watch. "_Hayley_. It's almost ten thirty; you were supposed to be up and dressed by nine." The sleeping figure didn't stir. Hayley could barely be seen underneath her thick duvet, it was pulled up so only the top of her head was visible.

Penny reached over and shook Hayley's shoulder, then pulled the cover down slightly, sighing with exasperation when she saw that her daughter was curled up on her side, sleeping heavily. She jogged Hayley's shoulder more firmly, and Hayley rolled slightly onto her back. Penny gasped as she saw the small pool of blood that had collected where Hayley's head had been resting. She reached out and felt Hayley's neck for a pulse; weak but barely there. Blood was smeared over the side of Hayley's face, and in her light brown hair.

"Oh God." She breathed, snatching Hayley's cell-phone from the bedside cabinet. She dialled 911, barking orders to the operator. Once the call was ended she walked out of the room, down the hallway to the front door, waiting for the paramedics. Thirteen minutes later Hayley lay unconscious in an ambulance, oblivious to everything around her.

* * *

"I found you a new case." Cameron said, dropping a file onto House's desk.

"So did Chase. So did Foreman. If you'd come into work yesterday instead of skipping for no reason, you might know that." He replied, not taking his eyes off his PSP.

"This case is better." Cameron snapped, ignoring House's comment and shoving the folder fiercely at him. He paused his game and looked at her, making a wounded face. He was shocked at what he saw; rather than her usual work attire, Cameron was wearing a ratty pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. Her hair was damp, and pulled into a loose ponytail. She barely looked like the Cameron he knew. He glanced down at the file she had handed him, confused to see that the patient's full name had not been recorded; she was listed just as Hayley.

"17 year old comatose female, post brain haemorrhage? Tell me, _why _is this case better than the guy with unexplained seizures, blindness and paralysis?" House questioned almost flippantly, trying to ignore the pained look on Cameron's face.

"This is her ninth hospital visit in two years, the fourth time that she's been hospitalised. Multiple recurrent infections; dehydration; extreme fatigue; sudden unexplained weight-loss. There's gotta be an underlying cause to all this."

"She isn't even in this hospital. Why am I looking at this file when the patient is already being treated in New York?" Cameron avoided his studious gaze. "Cameron? Ok fine. Give me three reasons as to why I'm supposed to treat this kid." At this, Cameron's eyes snapped up to meet his. He could have sworn he saw anger flash across her face. She crossed her arms resolutely.

"One - Because cases like this are what you live for, there's no reason behind her illness and yet she's lying in a coma, two – because you'll enjoy stealing her from New York, where her doctor is an old college rival of yours-" House made a movement to interrupt, and she held a hand up to stop him. "Dr. Williamson, I checked. He graduated third to your second your first year of Hopkins. And the third reason, because you're the best diagnostician there is." She exhaled deeply, flexing her fingers to try and stop her hands shaking. House raised his eyebrows, leaning back in his chair.

"And the _real_ reason?"

"She's my sister."

* * *

"I need authorisation for a patient transfer. New York Presbyterian to here." House said, ambling into Cuddy's office and holding out all the necessary paperwork. She frowned apologetically at the couple sitting in front of her.

"Can't it wait?" She sighed at him and he flapped the sheaf of papers.

"Cameron's sister. She's in a coma in New York, and Cameron wants me to be the attending." Cuddy looked shocked, and then took the offered papers. She scanned over them briefly, noting that Hayley Cameron was 17, and had been found unconscious in her bed after a brain haemorrhage. She was gradually responding to treatment, but wasn't waking up. She grabbed her pen and scratched her signature in all the required places.

"Tell Cameron she's on compassionate leave. No clinic duty, but she can help on her sister's diagnosis _if_ you authorise it." House took the papers back, and left the room. As the door closed behind him he heard Cuddy apologising to the couple. Cameron, who had been waiting for him, leaning anxiously against the nurses' station, jumped up as he approached.

"Did she approve the transfer?" House didn't answer, but reached over the counter and picked up the phone handset, dialling with one finger. "House…?" Cameron said, biting nervously at her fingernails.

"Shh." He replied, holding up a hand to quieten her. She looked affronted, but stayed quiet. "Yeah, this is Doctor Greg House, Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Can you put me through to a Doctor Williamson, Diagnostics?" He rolled his eyes at Cameron, who had sighed in relief when she realised what House was doing.

"I'm on hold…yeah, Doctor Williamson. Thanks…Alex! Greg House." He laughed sarcastically at whatever Doctor Williamson said. "You have a patient…Hayley Cameron…Yeah, that's her. Listen, I'm gonna have to take her off your hands…What d'you mean, why? Because her sister wants me to be the attending on the case. I can fax you the paperwork but an ambulance will be there in a couple of hours. She better be ready." House put the phone down, ignoring the angry complaints of Dr. Williamson. Cameron looked at him expectantly and he shrugged.

"Thank you." She said.


	2. Chapter 2

"New case." House said, slapping two copies of the case file onto the conference table. Foreman and Chase, who had been comparing notes on their current patient, looked affronted.

"We _have_ a case." Foreman pointed out, indicating the file already in his hand.

"We have a _new_ case." House said. Chase reached over and picked up a copy of the file, opening it and scanning the first page.

"17 year old in a coma after a brain haemorrhage? This isn't a case for diagnostics; it's a case for neuro."

"_No_. It's our case." House said, taking a marker and scribbling 'brain haemorrhage' on the whiteboard. He continued to write as Foreman scanned his own copy of the file.

"Whoa. The patient's name is Hayley Cameron? As in…?"

"My sister, yeah." Cameron was stood in the doorway, her eyes rimmed with dark circles. She was still wearing the ratty jeans and old t-shirt, but had shrugged an old sweater from college on top. The sleeves were pushed up to her elbows.

"Are you ok?" Foreman asked, standing up to offer her his chair, even though there was a spare one nearer to the door.

"_I'm_ fine; she's the one in the coma." Cameron answered almost flippantly as she meandered through the conference room. Chase and Foreman watched open-mouthed as she began to make a pot of coffee. House twirled his marker in his fingers, whistling absently and pretending he wasn't watching her. Minutes later she handed him his customary red mug. As he took it he noticed her hand was shaking.

"I'm on the case." She stated, rather than phrasing it as a question. He sipped his coffee; decaf rather than his usual brand. Trying not to make a face he nodded.

"You're on the case." She looked almost relieved as she took a seat at the table; not the empty one Foreman had offered but the one at the end of the table, where she could almost see the room where she had just settled Hayley. Foreman took his seat again, and Chase cleared away the files of the patient they had been working on. Presumably House had transferred him to another doctor.

"So, your mum found her at 10.30 yesterday morning, unconscious and bleeding from the ear." He asked and Cameron nodded. House, still stood at the whiteboard, cleared his throat. All three doctors looked at him, and he gestured to his scribbled writing – a list of symptoms, and strangely, beside them he had listed dates.

"Patient presented post brain haemorrhage – February 07. History shows four hospitalisations in the past two years; microfracture surgery on left knee - October 06, chest infection/pneumonia – May 06, kidney infection - August 05, extreme weight-loss – April 05." He said, pointing to each thing he had listed. "Plus five ER visits, twice for sudden collapse, once for extreme pain in both elbow joints and twice for flu-like symptoms." He limped over to the conference table, taking a seat opposite Cameron. "Anything else?" Cameron was stunned; he had listed all Hayley's hospitalisations and ER visits without looking at a copy of her file. He must have memorised the history she realised.

"She gets sick a lot, mostly colds, viruses. Recurrent infections but she doesn't like doctors." A rueful smile crossed Cameron's face. Chase cleared his throat, still looking at the file in his hand.

"April 05; she stayed in hospital for almost a month. That's pretty extreme…" He didn't know how to finish his own sentence, and in the end he didn't have to. Cameron nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.

"After she collapsed at school she was admitted into an eating disorders clinic."

"Anorexia?" Chase asked gently, though he was actually dying to know.

"She lost 20 pounds in less than three months." Cameron answered.

"Any history of drug use?" Foreman said, avoiding Cameron's eyes as he asked, Cameron almost blushed, but then answered as nonchalantly as she could manage –

"Marijuana when she was 13, and only one time. Other than prescribed anti-biotics there's been nothing since she was eight."

"What happened when she was eight?" House asked, intrigued. Thinking about it, Hayley's file only gave her medical history for the past two years; there was no mention of anything in the fifteen years preceding that. Cameron tensed, looking incredibly uncomfortable. All three doctors were willing to bet that if it wasn't for the fact that Hayley was sick, there was no way she would have disclosed any of this information,

"Septicaemia." She answered tightly, but before House could remark, Cameron's pager went off. She checked it and blanched. "Hayley's awake." She jumped out of her seat and tried to hurry out of the conference room, but she couldn't – House was standing in the way of the door.

"Move." She commanded and he did, watching as she ran down the corridor, taking the corner too fast and almost colliding with a nurse. "Go after her," he instructed his two remaining doctors.

"Foreman, neuro tests, Chase I want complete blood-work." Foreman stood up but Chase remained seated.

"You don't have any ideas?" he asked, almost incredulously. House scoffed at him.

"I have plenty of _ideas_. I just choose not you share them with you. Blood work and neuro tests. Go!" Chase and Foreman headed off in the direction of Hayley's room, leaving House standing in front of his whiteboard, examining his own barely-legible scribbles. Cameron had been right, this case was interesting. There was definitely something wrong with her sister, something no-one had bothered to diagnose. And that, rather than the array of medical complaints he had listed before him, was what was so intriguing. Why had it taken two years and nine hospital visits – plus God only knew how many untreated illnesses to figure out something was wrong with her?

He wandered into his office, seating himself at his computer. Typing rapidly on his keyboard he accessed the medical records for "Cameron, Hayley Anne. D.O.B. 05/01/1989". Scrolling down the page he found what he was looking for. He leaned back in his chair, discomfort swirling in his stomach. No wonder Cameron was so freaked about her sister…

* * *

It was weird; Hayley was like a smaller, younger version of Cameron. They had the same hair, same eyes. Even the way they spoke was the same. Hayley's hospital bed, was set in a reclining position so that she could sit up comfortably and Cameron was seated close by in a chair. When Chase had drawn blood, Cameron had instinctively lowered the safety rail and sat on the bed next to Hayley, who it turned out had a severe phobia of needles. Chase hadn't been able to get access from the crooks of her arms and had ended up resorting to drawing the blood from her wrist. Tears had fallen down Hayley's cheeks the whole time, and with her free hand she had held on so tightly to Cameron's that her fingernails had cut into Cameron's palm.

Cameron had forbidden Chase and Foreman to run any tests on Hayley until she had had a chance to explain what had happened. Hayley had no recollection of what had happened the whole of the day before the haemorrhage that had landed her in New York Presbyterian. Foreman had assured her that this was relatively normal, and it was likely she would remember in her own time.

"We're almost through now Hayley; just a few more questions." Foreman said, quickly checking the monitors to which Hayley was connected. "What day is it?" Foreman asked Hayley, and her eyes darted towards Cameron.

"How long was I in the coma?" she asked.

"All day yesterday and overnight." Cameron answered, and Hayley turned her head to face Foreman.

"It's February 9th. Wednesday." Foreman nodded. With any other patient he could have done this kind of test blindfolded, but it was Cameron's sister. A brain haemorrhage wasn't exactly a good thing to happen – he couldn't afford to screw up.

"If you mix yellow paint with blue paint, what do you get?" He asked. Hayley quirked an eyebrow and answered,

"A hell of a mess." Cameron tried not to smile. "Sorry, you get green paint."

"What's your mother's maiden name?" Hayley tensed, but answered-

"Grafton." Hayley's eyes locked onto her big sisters' and Cameron smiled.

"All done." Foreman said, checking Hayley's monitors one last time.

"I prefer you to Doctor Chase." Hayley said through a yawn, and Foreman looked confused. Hayley continued, "You didn't shove giant needles in me to steal my blood." The Cameron sisters giggled.

"You should get probably some sleep." Foreman said, "I'll check on you later." He left the room, heading back to the Diagnostics Department to report to House.

"I just slept for 2 days!" Hayley objected, followed by a huge yawn. Cameron brushed stray hairs away from her sister's face.

"Sleep." She commanded, and Hayley gave a small, tired smile. She bent over and kissed Hayley on the forehead, then turned to leave the room.

"Allie?" Hayley called quietly. Cameron looked back over her shoulder, a smile on her face.

"I can stay with you if you want." She said, but Hayley shook her head.

"Is…is Mom…?" she mumbled, eyes avoiding Cameron's. Cameron sighed heavily, apologetically.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I don't know why I asked."

"Get some sleep." Cameron said quietly, leaving the room and heading back to see what Hayley's blood test showed.

* * *

"What's this?" House asked, his eyes focussing on the object in front of his face.

"It's a key to my mother's apartment. I assume you were planning on sending Chase and Foreman there at some point?" Cameron said, almost sarcastically. She pressed the key into his hand. "At least this way you won't have to break in."

"Who said I was planning to?" he replied, definitely with sarcastic overtones.

"9 cases out of ten you send Foreman, Chase or me to the patient's house. And obviously I can't go 'cos I have to stay here with Hayley. But they won't get into the building unless they tell the doormen Allie Cameron sent them, and they won't get into the apartment without a key. So there's the key." She gestured to his hand; he had curled his fingers around the small object.

"What's the deal with your mother?" House asked, ignoring the fact that Cameron was on her way out of his office. She froze and whipped around to face him.

"What do you mean?" she answered with a question, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Her youngest daughter has a brain haemorrhage and she doesn't even visit? Most mothers wouldn't leave the child's bedside in a case like this."

"My mother isn't most mothers." Cameron replied, turning around again and leaving House in the quiet solitude of his office.


	3. Chapter 3

House approached the doormen slowly. They eyed him carefully as he tried one-handed to open the heavy glass door. One of them, the name-tag sewn onto the lapel of his uniform read Walter, approached him.

"Can I help you sir?" He asked. House looked like just the kind of person he and his brother Charles were hired to keep out of the building. Even if he did have a cane, the guy just looked suspicious.

"Apartment 6…?" House said, waving the key at the man. Walter frowned at him, and was soon joined by Charles. Both men were in their late fifties, House estimated.

"That's the Cameron family apartment, sir." Charles said. "May I ask where you got that key?" House smiled, remembering what Cameron had told him about the doormen.

"Allie Cameron gave it to me." Suddenly smiles flashed across the faces of both men.

"You must be Doctor House." Walter said, at the same time as Charles asked,

"This 'bout our Hayley?" House nodded.

"I'm her doctor, and I really need to get into Apartment 6, so if you could just let me through to the elevator."

"Why do you need to see their apartment? This is a good building, a nice building. There's none of that asbestos stuff here, we've been checked!" Walter objected angrily and House resisted the urge to come back with a sarcastic comment. He needed access to the apartment and insulting the doormen was not the way to go about it.

"I need to see if there's anything that might help us treat Hayley. She's pretty sick." He said finally, playing on the obvious affection that both men had for the teenager.

"Of course." Charles nodded solemnly, and he stepped aside, holding an arm out to show House towards the elevator.

"You take care of her Doctor House. She's a great kid-" Charles said, as House ambled past him. Walter interrupted him.

"-been through a lot, but she's a really great kid." House pressed the button for the elevator, and stepped in when the doors opened almost immediately. He looked back at the two doormen, and nodded.

"I'll do my best." He promised as the doors closed.

* * *

The apartment was the complete opposite from whatever he might have expected. From the brief glimpses he had had of Cameron's apartment he had figured that her style came from her mother. Subconsciously he had pictured a comfy, lived in look, yet with a distinctly classy air about it at the same time. What he found, when he slid the key into the lock and opened the door, was an almost sterile environment. The door opened onto the open-plan living space; cream walls and white-washed floorboards. The furniture was ornate and pretentious - most likely hand-carved and far from comfortable. A vase of lilies stood on the mantle of the fireplace; not a real working fireplace but an artificial contraption consisting of marble and an abundance of stones. It was interesting, but not homely. He couldn't imagine Cameron living here. 

He wandered through the hallway. There were no pictures on any of the walls, just a few black and white prints of pebbles and streams. Very boring, he thought. There were two doors on the each side of the hallway, and one at the end. He opened the first door on the right, and was almost embarrassed to find himself in what was undoubtedly Cameron's old bedroom. There was no pink, he was relieved to find. Instead the room was decorated in a tasteful blue and white scheme. It probably hadn't changed much since she had lived there, in fact, there were still high-school and med-school textbooks in the bookshelf. Pictures were everywhere, mostly of Cameron and Hayley, interspersed with images of Cameron and people who he assumed were her friends from school.

He didn't feel bad at all, although snooping through her old bedroom was definitely not why she had given him a key. He was about to leave the room when he noticed a diary in the bookcase. He couldn't resist the urge, and grabbed it off the shelf. Flicking through the pages he found that there was very little actual writing inside. Instead, there were photos slipped between the pages, of three girls. He recognised two of the girls as Cameron and Hayley, but the third one…she bore an uncanny resemblance to the two. Turning the photograph he read what had been written on the back; three names and a date. He pocketed the diary then left the room, heading opposite.

The bathroom provided nothing interesting. White towels, white tiles, white soap. Nothing in the medicine cabinets, a single toothbrush rather than the two he had expected, besides that there was nothing but the ordinary toiletries. The next room was a similar situation; Cameron and Hayley's mother's bedroom. White rugs adorned the floor and the room looked generally like something out of a magazine.

"Fourth time lucky," he muttered to himself as he tried the fourth door; second on the left. And it was like stepping from Kansas to Oz, though he would never use that analogy in public. The room was a rainbow; all four walls painted different colours with a border of handprints. It screamed brightness and happiness, and yet it was like a time warp. A Spice Girls poster was peeling off one wall; there was what looked like a brand-new VCR in the corner by the portable TV with a collection of Disney movies on VHS. On the nightstand was one of those irritating Furby things, and a smattering of Beanie Babies decorated the bed. He wandered further into the room, towards the dresser. Photos in an array of brightly coloured frames stood proudly on top of it. His jaw dropped when he realised what the majority of the photos showed. He was about to pick up one photo frame when-

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my house?" a woman yelled, and he turned around so fast that his leg jarred. In the doorway was a middle-aged woman; immaculately coiffed and brandishing an umbrella as a weapon.

"I'm Doctor House; I'm treating your daughter Hayley." He protested.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" she repeated, not lowering her 'weapon'.

"Cameron, _Allison_ gave me a key. I need to see if there's something that could have caused Hayley's condition." The umbrella was lowered, but only slightly.

"You won't find anything in here. Hayley's room is at the end of the corridor." Mrs. Cameron answered tightly, moving out of the way and gesturing for him to leave. He did, and she shut the door firmly behind him.

"You have five minutes." She told him, heading down into her own bedroom. He went into the final room. The bed had been stripped down to the mattress; presumably due to the blood that had stained the pillows. It was a typical teenager's room he figured, decorated a shade of green. A school timetable and various notices were stuck to a pinboard over a desk that was so messy it rivalled his own. A laptop was buried underneath the papers, and hundreds of books crammed into the relatively small bookcase. This was definitely the smallest of the bedrooms but, he discovered, it had its own bathroom.

Searching through the cabinets he found a locked make-up box. After three seconds he had picked the lock, and found a two-thirds full pack of birth control pills, as well as a box of condoms. Checking further he found that two of the twelve were missing. Underneath the contraceptives was a diary, which he pocketed rather than wasting time scanning through it. Nothing else in the either of the rooms was helpful; Hayley was both clean and tidy, and a complete slob. Much like him in all honesty. He closed the bedroom door behind him and limped back through the apartment, trying to find Mrs. Cameron. She was in the kitchen, leaning against the granite-topped island unit and sipping coffee.

"I'm done." He told her, and she nodded. "So I'll be going then." Mrs. Cameron made no movement. "I have my car. If you want, I can drive you to Princeton."

"I'm not going to the hospital." She replied, her voice a monotone. House was taken aback. He wanted to ask why but something told him that she had the same talent as Cameron when it came to disclosing anything she didn't want to. He bit his tongue, and headed out of the apartment; his pockets full of goodies that he suspected had everything and nothing to do with Hayley's medical condition.

* * *

"Where's House?" Cameron asked, noting that her boss wasn't in the conference room with Chase, or in his office. She presumed he wasn't in the clinic, and she herself had just been with Hayley, so he wasn't there. Chase, who had been poring over a medical textbook, looked up and made a face. 

"He said not to tell you, but he went to your mother's apartment." Cameron looked taken aback.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"He's not joking." came House's voice from behind her. She whipped around, her face pale. He knew why, but ignored her. "You-" he pointed at Chase with his cane, "-are due in the clinic." Chase opened his mouth to object; he had already completed his clinic hours for the week. "You should really learn to keep your mouth shut when you're told to." House said, before limping through to his office. Chase grumbled under his breath and slammed the textbook.

"Sorry." Cameron told him distractedly, her eyes on House through the glass dividing wall. He was seated at his desk, bouncing his over-sized tennis ball on the floor.

"It's not your fault. How's Hayley?"

"She's ok. Sleeping right now, but she's pretty freaked out that she can't remember anything from Monday." Cameron exhaled heavily, trying not to let her shoulders shake.

"She'll be fine Cameron. Really." Chase said, laying a supportive hand on her shoulder. She smiled gratefully and he left the room, heading for the clinic. She made her way through the conference room, and set about making a pot of coffee. From his office, House yelled,

"Cameron!" She rested her palms heavily on the counter, sighing. She couldn't face dealing with him now, but when she didn't answer he yelled again, and again, pounding his cane on the floor. Eventually she couldn't ignore him anymore and stormed into his office, cup of coffee in her hand.

"What?" she yelled back at him and for a brief moment he looked genuinely shocked. Of course he covered it well; he was willing to bet she was so mad at him that she hadn't noticed in the first place.

"Sit." He said, and she placed her free hand obstinately on her hip.

"No."

"Cameron, I said SIT." He gestured to the free chair on the opposite side of his desk, and was impressed when she stood her ground. "_Fine_, we'll play your way." He thought, as he turned to the pile of things he had taken from Cameron's mother's apartment. Selecting a few of the photos, he laid them out on his desk; which was clear of all its usual debris, Cameron noted. She craned her neck slightly, and her stomach flipped when she realised what he was showing her.

"Sit." He repeated, and she obeyed, almost falling into the chair. Her coffee slopped over the rim of the mug and she sighed as the liquid splashed onto her jeans. She didn't say anything, could barely raise her eyes further than the photos. He noticed the familiar rapid-blinking; she was trying so hard not to cry he almost wished she would get it over with. He cleared his throat, bring her to her senses. She reached out and picked up one of the pictures; the one with her, Hayley and another girl. It was Hayley's fourth birthday party; Cameron herself had been fourteen years old, and…

"Cameron." House's voice broke through her thoughts and her eyes snapped up to meet his. He looked different, almost kind.

"Yes?" She whispered.

"Tell me about Michelle."

* * *

YAY! I got dinged with six reviews this afternoon, so just HAD to write another chapter. Well...I did half of it on my laptop already but I think I'm addicted to writing. Never mind :P I'm glad everyone's enjoyed the first two chapters, so I hope you like this one. And please, continue to review because that may possibly be part of my addiction... Sarah :D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Whoa! I love reviews. Am actually addicted to checking my hotmail...it's kind of worrying. But also fun, so please please review. Even if you hate it. So, this is chapter 4. It took longer to update cos it was harder to write...hopefully you will understand when you read it. Off you go...x

* * *

"I…I can't. I'm sorry, I can't." She whispered; her eyes fixed on her lap. The coffee she had spilled was staining her jeans, and she could feel its heat scalding her thigh through the denim. "I should go get changed or something." She stood up, looking lost and bewildered.

"Sit." House commanded and she blinked at him. "_Sit_." he repeated and once again she obeyed. "Cameron." He leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on the desk. Cameron's eyes flickered over the pictures again, taking in what each of them showed and remembering…

"She…Michelle was…." Cameron took a deep breath, trying to formulate a sentence. "She was our sister."

* * *

Hayley turned onto her other side. She couldn't get comfortable, no matter what position she tried. She had wires coming out of the backs of her hands, and things clipped onto her fingers that somehow told people what was going on with her heart and stuff. If she wasn't careful she tangled up the wires, and the machines started bleeping. It had happened twice and she was so bored she was considering doing it again. Not cos she felt sick or anything, she was just willing to bet that it would piss off the nurse who would undoubtedly come running. Being in hospital was really boring. She had never exactly enjoyed it, but in the past she had always had-

No. She wasn't going to think about that. She couldn't. Trying to distract herself, Hayley stared at the tiles on the ceiling. For a hospital, they were surprisingly dirty. Or maybe they were just meant to be rainy-day grey. Two hundred and sixty one tiles; she had counted them earlier. If she closed her eyes she could imagine she was anywhere else, but only for a few seconds. There was always some nurse talking, or a light flickering, or a machine bleeping incessantly.

There was always something that made her remember.

* * *

"She died when she was thirteen." A tear fell down Cameron's cheek. House glanced down at the photographs, checking something. He gestured for her to continue and she looked confused. "What?"

"She didn't just _die_." He didn't ask, he told. Cameron blinked rapidly, straightening up in her chair.

"How did you know about her? How did you know her name? Why did you steal my photos?" she fumed, slipping the images into a pile and gripping them possessively in her hand.

"I found Hayley's old notes on the system." He indicated the computer. "You only gave me two years worth of history, I needed a more thorough-"

"Bull." She snapped. "If you wanted a more thorough history you would have asked." House was stumped; Cameron had gone from weak to warrior in less than thirty seconds.

"I was curious."

"Of course you were." She spat out, clenching her fist around the photos. Feeling them crushed in her fist she looked down at her hand, and saw what she had done. And she crumbled. House felt almost ashamed; a feeling he didn't have often and he hated it. He had seen Cameron cry before, of course he had. The majority of the time it was his fault, but he had never felt all that bad about it. He fumbled around for a Kleenex, then realised Cameron already had one. Of course she did, she was Cameron.

"When did you find out she was sick?" He knew the answer; after finding Hayley's old notes he had dug further – a copy of Michelle Cameron's medical file was sitting in his desk drawer. Plus, the diary he had stolen from Cameron's old room turned out to be a record of every treatment that Michelle had undergone; he had read through it after leaving the Cameron's apartment building.

"My eighth birthday party." House was momentarily thrown; he hadn't known _that_. "About a week before the party my mom noticed he had all these bruises, and she wasn't even a clumsy kid. Our physician sent her for more tests and the results came in the day of my party. There was supposed to be a magician." She gave a sudden snort of laughter; as if she realised how stupid that was.

"APL..." House said, in a strangely gentle voice, and Cameron nodded.

"They started her on chemo three days later, and it almost killed her. Pancytopenia; a stupidly long word for a horrible deal. The chemo completely wiped out her immune system– she was so sick that she was on a ventilator. And it didn't work anyway. Her oncologist said the best option was transplant." House nodded.

"You were tested?"

"I was only a 2 for 6 protein match. For any other leukemia patient it might have been good enough, by a stretch, but for Michelle…it wasn't good enough." House's ears pricked up at her choice of words, but as soon as Cameron had wiped her eyes she continued.

"My parents used embryo selection to get an allogeneic donor for her. Hayley was born almost nineteen months after Michelle's diagnosis. They used stem cells from Hayley's umbilical cord and Michelle went into remission."

"How long was she in remission?" House was surprised that Cameron was managing to hold it together so well.

"Two years. She wasn't healthy, not by a long way. But she wasn't dying. She was such a cute kid, she and Hayley were like twins – totally inseparable. And then one day they were playing and I noticed bruising on her ankles."

"Molecular relapse." House said, and Cameron nodded.

"Hayley had to donate twenty-five thousand lymphocytes before 'Chelle went back into remission. And then three years later they were back in the hospital." Cameron sounded so weary. She spent so much time trying to forget that remembering was exhausting. "Clinical relapse this time; so the doctors did a bone marrow transplant. Hayley was in so much pain…she had to be _sedated_. She was barely six years old and she had to have growth factor shots for three weeks so that there was enough bone marrow for her to donate. It's no wonder she's terrified of needles." She sighed heavily, angrily. She wasn't crying anymore but it felt like there was a knot in her stomach. House stared at her. She seemed angry on Hayley's behalf. Or maybe she was angry on her own behalf, and this was how she showed it.

"It must have been tough on you and your parents." House said, unusually sympathetic yet trying to mask his curiosity. Cameron scoffed.

"It was tough on _Hayley_." Cameron's voice was hard. "She didn't have a life; not really. Even when 'Chelle was 'healthy' she still needed regular blood transfusions; platelets and white blood cells. I was the same blood type but they wouldn't let me donate cos I wasn't a good enough match to Michelle. My parents just assumed that no matter what was needed, _Hayley_ would give it…They didn't want another daughter; they just used her to fix the one that was broken." Again, Cameron's choice of words intrigued him.

"And when she was thirteen?" he pressed. Cameron whimpered quietly.

"She woke up in the middle of the night, and she was screaming. She was in _so_ much pain and she was terrified. She was bleeding from her nose, her ears – even her eye sockets...haemorrhaging so badly she could barely breathe." Cameron practically gasped for air herself; tears were streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks and House could see her shaking fiercely. "The oncologist said her liver was failing. Hayley and I both donated blood for her; she was so low on platelets that they were willing to use mine to treat her." Even though he could barely make out what Cameron was saying, House was certain he could detect a small hint of bitterness in her voice. Maybe he was wrong, but…

"The doctor said that…he said the only chance 'Chelle had was if she had a liver transplant. That's how it is with APL patients, y'know? The APL isn't…it isn't what gets them in the end. My parents said yes right away, I mean, of course they did. They would have anything to save Michelle. It killed them that they couldn't do anymore than just…they wanted to do more than just sign a consent form."

"But Hayley got sick too." House said, and was alarmed when Cameron began to shake so much he thought she was going to faint. He stood as quickly as he could manage and rounded his desk, leaning against it. He grasped Cameron on the shoulder, feeling how violently she was trembling. With his other hand he removed the coffee cup she was still holding.

"Cameron, breathe. It's ok – you don't have to tell me." Cameron shook her head decisively.

"I've never told anyone. I couldn't…"

"Cameron, just breathe." He could feel her shoulders heaving as she tried to calm down.

"She was admitted so that the doctors could clear her for the transplant. But she got a really high fever, and when the blood work came back it showed she had gotten septicaemia. All the needle sticks …and all the tests…they gave her _blood poisoning_. And it didn't matter that she was sick…all my mother worried about was that the doctors couldn't do the transplant…" Cameron paused, scrubbing at her face with her sodden and wrinkled Kleenex. "Michelle went into multi-organ failure three days after Hayley's diagnosis…it took that long. The doctors tried everything they could but she was too sick…and she died."

'Whoa.' House thought, one of the few times in his life that he was genuinely speechless.

"You know the worst part?" Cameron continued, drawing in her breath. "My mom never visited Hayley once. I mean, I can understand her not wanting to leave Michelle when _she_ was so sick but not one single visit. Hayley was eight years old, _eight years old_. She was a scared, sick little girl and…and my _damned_ mother couldn't even bring herself to walk thirty seconds down the hall." House had rarely heard Cameron so fierce.

"Not even…"

"Not even when Michelle had died, no. My dad and I tried our best, but…you know, sometimes a girl just wants her mommy. And she wouldn't go. She wouldn't…even after Hayley was better and we…_buried_ Michelle; it was like Hayley didn't exist." Cameron exhaled heavily, and coughed. She swiped at her damp face, running her fingers underneath her eyes to wipe away the tears. House realised his hand hadn't moved from her shoulder, as she had talked he had just rested it there. He whipped it away, as if she was red-hot and scalding him. She looked up at him, eyes red from crying. Trusting him.

"You can't tell anyone what I told you. And you _have_ to figure out what's going on with Hayley." House looked away. "House, please." Cameron's voice was pleading, but there was no catch of tears as she spoke. House cleared his throat and looked at her, folding his arms.

"House…promise me you'll fix this." Her eyes locked onto his, as if challenging him to say no, and he found himself saying the two words no doctor should ever say.

"I'll try." He said gruffly, and she nodded; not knowing that in his head he added; '_I promise_.'

* * *

A/N: There it is. I really hope you like it. I'm (definitely) not a doctor; all the medical stuff is from the Internet (oh how I love it) so apologies if I've gotten some stuff wrong. It's as accurate as possible. And I really hope it's not too hard...I did get a bit emotional writing it I have to say so if it's a bit too close to home I do apologise. Really. Hopefully Chapter 5 will be up soon (and not so heavy).

As always, please please please review. xxx


	5. Chapter 5

"You look like crap." House said, breaking the silence that had lain over the room. Cameron gave a small glimmer of a smile.

"Yeah well, you always look like crap. I at least have an excuse." She muttered. House smirked.

"Go home." He told her. Cameron's eyes snapped up to meet his.

"No. Hayley-"

"-is asleep. She'll be fine without you for a few hours. Go home; eat something, sleep. Hayley won't even miss you."

"But..." Cameron tried to protest but House simply raised an eyebrow, as if challenging her to disobey him. "I'll be back at seven a.m. If she wakes up..." Cameron stood, noting the dried coffee stain on her jeans.

"Go!" House said, shooing her through to the conference room to get her stuff together. He glanced at the clock on his wall; 3:03am. He sighed. "Cameron?" The young doctor popped her head around the door, shrugging on a jacket. Her purse was in her hand.

"What?" she asked him.

"Make it eight a.m."

* * *

House wandered from his office into the conference room, balancing the pile of photos, notebooks and medical files awkwardly in his free hand. He set them down on the table, and then made himself a coffee; all the while trying to make some sense of what was going on with Hayley.

He stared at the whiteboard, at his own scribbled list of her symptoms. They didn't fit – at least, one of them didn't fit. The most serious, the brain haemorrhage, it seemed to be a complete anomaly. He grabbed Hayley's medical file and a chair and sat in front of the whiteboard. It didn't make sense; judging from Hayley's previous hospitalisations and ER visits she was suffering from fatigue and joint pain, as well as having a susceptibility to infections. How did that suddenly equate to a brain haemorrhage? He flipped open the file and scanned the entries. Of course, Cameron being Cameron she had added 'helpful' little notes; Hayley had an allergy to penicillin, and to pineapples. He rolled his eyes, and then suddenly flipped back a few pages, remembering something Cameron had told him, Foreman and Chase when Hayley was first admitted.

Finding the appropriate note he sighed, and got slowly and uncomfortably to his feet. His leg tightened painfully and he grappled in his pocket for his pills. Popping two, he made his way out of the conference room and down the darkened corridor; pausing outside Hayley's room. Even in the dark he could easily make out her figure sleeping soundly underneath a thick cover of blankets.

He continued on down the hallway towards the lab, and spent twenty minutes running tests on the samples of blood that Chase had taken from Hayley. Doing the actual tests took barely more than five minutes; the rest of the time was spent impatiently – pacing the small room waiting for the results printout. Finally the printer kicked in and delivered the crucial results. He cast an expert eye over them and sighed, running a hand over his face in a tired gesture.

"Dammit." He muttered, reaching into his jeans pocket for his Vicodin. He popped two before striding as purposefully as he could manage towards Hayley's room. He slid the door across as quietly as possible, but Hayley turned and stared at him.

'Well,' she reasoned to herself, seeing the silhouette in the doorway, 'he's either a madman who wants to batter me to death with that cane, or…'

"You're Doctor House." She finished aloud, shading her eyes as he flicked the light switch; bathing the whole room in white light. House nodded. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the light, and then glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's four in the _morning_." She groaned

"You've been sleeping for almost two days straight." House pointed out and she narrowed her eyes at him; the same way Cameron always did.

"Does my sister know you're in here?" Hayley questioned and House smirked.

"I sent her home for the night. She's exhausted." House wandered towards Hayley and glanced at the IV line snaking its way from her wrist to the complex network of machinery. He checked her monitors, and then turned to face her again.

"The nurse did that about twenty minutes ago." She told him, smothering a yawn with her hand. "Why are you here?"

House resisted the urge to grin at how alike the two Cameron sisters were. Like the sister he knew, Hayley had the same knack of asking questions for the sake of it. He sighed.

"I'm your doctor, I'm checking on you. It's what we do."

She stared at him as he sauntered across the room and pulled the blinds open.

"Well, would you look at that?" He mock-gasped; pretending to be surprised at the slowly growing strip of light on the horizon. "Correct me if I'm wrong; but that looks like sunrise." Hayley suppressed a laugh. She and her sister had had many lengthy conversations about Doctor House, and Hayley knew that he wasn't just going to give up.

"Congratulations. Would you like a gold star?" she quipped and House sank into the chair beside her bed. She looked down at him, waiting for his comeback.

"No." he answered shortly and she looked down at him, considering whether or not to take the bait. After thirty seconds of awkward silence; House staring hard at her and she staring equally hard back, she gave up.

"Fine, what _do_ you want?" she asked him.

"How much do you weigh?" he answered with a question of his own.

"115." Hayley answered quickly, almost a reflex. House raised his eyebrow and Hayley blushed slightly. "110." Seeing House's disbelieving expression she fumed, "Fine, 105. If you knew the answer why not just read my notes?" House shrugged.

"It's more interesting this way. You ever do drugs?"

"I smoked pot once when I was 13. Allie said she told you." House nodded and Hayley looked at him, trying to suss out his motives. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"See, that's the thing. Well, one of two things. First off – everyone lies, and you just subscribed to the majority. Secondly, you _lied_." Now was Hayley's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"That made absolutely no sense." She told him sternly.

"Maybe you're just too _high_ to tell." House countered.

"Exactly what are you accusing me of?"

"Cocaine. You took it and it caused your brain haemorrhage."

"I did _what_ now?" Hayley almost yelled at him.

"Guess the odd one out – fatigue, weight loss, joint pain, brain haemorrhage. It doesn't fit, therefore it isn't a symptom of whatever's wrong with you – it's a completely separate problem. Caused by you taking cocaine." He told her.

"I'm a runaway train." Hayley answered quietly, hanging her head.

"What?" House asked, momentarily taken aback. He had expected Hayley to go off on one; yell and scream at him. Deny taking the drugs. The change in her attitude drew his attention.

"It's what my boyfriend said. Only I'm running so fast down the track I've actually derailed."

"I only do sports metaphors." House told her, wishing for a moment that she would just look at him. Seeing her almost folding in on herself was making him uncomfortable; it reminded him of the state that Cameron had been an hour or so earlier."You took cocaine." He said in a low voice, and Hayley nodded. It was a small gesture yet it spoke volumes. "Why?" he asked, almost surprising himself. He never normally cared about the 'why'; it was the 'what, when and how' that he got paid to figure out.

"My mom and I had a fight. A bad one. I snuck out of my window and walked to my boyfriend's apartment but he wasn't there; just his roommate."

"He gave it to you?" Hayley shook her head.

"Not exactly. He let me in, and offered me a drink. I said no, and when he went to get himself one I noticed this little plastic envelope on the coffee table."

"How did you know what it was?" House asked.

"I didn't, I just guessed it was something illegal. And I _really_ felt like doing something illegal. So I grabbed the envelope, and took some of it. Then I told Brandon I was going home – I don't think he even noticed me leave."

"You just _felt_ like doing something illegal?" House asked, trying not to sound as amused as he was. He had figured Hayley Cameron to be as much of her big sister's clone in personality as she was in looks. Apparently he was wrong.

"You never just felt like doing something for the hell of it? Even when you knew it was the complete opposite of what you should be doing?" Hayley looked up slightly and narrowed her eyes, as if daring him to deny it. When he – somewhat wisely – kept his mouth shut, she continued.

"Nothing happened; I didn't feel any different. I just climbed up the fire escape and went to bed. I figured that whatever it was, it wasn't what I thought, y'know? Next thing I know I'm waking up from a coma. And I didn't remember, not at first. I wouldn't lie to Allie…we don't lie to each other."

"So you _were_ planning on telling her this?" he asked sceptically, and Hayley nodded fervently.

"I only remembered it all this afternoon, but I tell her everything…even when I know she won't approve. We're friends as well as sisters, except she's always there for me, and even though she _doesn't_ approve she doesn't judge me or stop talking to me, or do whatever a normal friend would do. We're closer than normal sisters because of..." her voice trailed off when she realised what she was about to say.

"Because of what happened to Michelle." House finished, and felt that same uncomfortable feeling in his stomach when at the very mention of her sister's name Hayley's eyes filled with tears.

"Allie and I…we've been through a lot." Hayley paused to wipe her eyes. "After Michelle…died, Allie was the only one who tried to make me feel like a normal kid. My mom treated me like a murderer and my dad was just so busy hitting the bottle he didn't even see me. Allie got what it was like…to be, I don't know…to be hated by the one person who's supposed to love you whatever you do. More than anything else, she gets that. She wasn't good enough either."

House pulled the Kleenex box off Hayley's dresser, and handed her a few tissues. She took them with a small, watery smile.

"Sorry." House shrugged and glanced at his watch.

"You should probably try and get some more sleep." He told her, standing awkwardly. Sitting for long periods of time never made his leg feel all that great, and he had spent the past few hours watching as both Cameron sisters – the one he knew and the one he didn't – fell apart in front of him.

"Doctor House?" Hayley called, as he slid the door shut behind him.

"Yeah?" he replied, not turning around.

"Thank you for checking up on me."

* * *

Sorry I took longer to update this time; been busy stressing about over school / university choices and interviews etc. Plus I'm sick, which doesn't help. Hopefully things should settle down soon, so I can have Chapter 6 up and running soon.

Reviews are better than paracetemol, so PLEASE make me feel better.


	6. Chapter 6

Cameron entered her apartment to the sound of the phone ringing. She picked it up almost instantly, not stopping to put down her purse or door keys.

"Hello?" she said urgently, terrified that the voice she would hear would belong to House or someone else at the hospital.

"Hello Allison." Cameron was stunned to hear the quiet, refined voice reply. She flicked the light switch, bathing her apartment in a warm yellow glow, and then turned her free hand to glance at her watch, almost a quarter to four. "Allison, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Just give me a minute." Cameron replied, setting her purse and keys down on the hall table while simultaneously slipping off her shoes. She held the phone to her chest, contemplating pressing 'disconnect' and unplugging the phone to prevent a call-back. Deciding against it, Cameron walked into her living room and sunk heavily onto the sofa, drawing her knees up to her chest. Finally she answered the caller.

"Hi Mom."

* * *

"I'll speak to you soon." Penny Cameron said almost forty minutes later, ringing off before her daughter had a chance to reply. 'I look forward to it.' Cameron remarked sarcastically, to no-one other than herself and the half-dead spider plant in her window sill. She let herself fall sideways, so she was lying on the couch. The flashing LED clock on her ancient VCR flashed 21:24, meaning that it was around twenty past five. She hardly ever used the machine, had never bothered to re-programme the clock and consequently had gotten used to doing math whenever she wanted to know the time without looking at her watch. She sighed heavily, closing her eyes for just a moment.

She woke up when she heard the sounds of her coffee machine in the kitchen, clunking and whirring like it did every morning at five minutes to seven. Unlike the VCR, the machine was almost brand-new – a Christmas present from Hayley. The only downside was that it was twice as loud as the one she had owned before, and it was impossible to sleep through the sounds it made. She swung her legs around and sat up, trying so shake the fuzzy feeling from her head. Two hours sleep was not enough, especially considering that she had barely stopped to take a breath since Hayley was taken into hospital.

The machine stopped clunking and she made her way slowly into her kitchen; blinking at the bright morning light that was shining through the window. She made herself a mug of coffee and leaned against the sink, staring at the calendar on the wall opposite. Almost every day had a note by it, occasionally days had been ringed with a red circle. Today was Thursday, and it was blank. But Tuesday, the day Hayley had gone into hospital was ringed. She sighed, downing the soothing liquid in a few gulps, before taking a pen and scoring a line through Tuesday. Then another, then another and another until the whole of Tuesday's square was covered in black scribble. Satisfied, Cameron put the empty coffee mug into the sink and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

"You're early." House said, checking his watch as Cameron entered the conference room. She looked at him, puzzled, and checked her own watch.

"It's eight fifteen; technically I'm late." She really wasn't in the mood for this, not after speaking to Hayley a few minutes before.

"But you just spent twenty minutes talking to your sister, meaning you got in at five minutes _to_ eight…meaning you were early." Cameron rolled her eyes and went through to House's office, leaving him alone in the conference room. He followed her though, and was amused to see the perplexed look on her face when she realised that his mail was already organised.

"You did your own mail?" she questioned as he sat behind his desk.

"I also tied my shoes and fed myself." He remarked, gesturing for her to sit in the chair opposite him. She lingered for a few seconds, not wanting a repeat of last night's dramatic revelations. "For God's sake Cameron, sit in the damn chair." She obeyed, reluctantly and looked at him almost defiantly.

"I take it she told you?" he asked her and she folded her arms obstinately.

"Of course she told me. She tells me everything-"

"Even stuff you won't like, blah blah blah, I got the spiel from Hayley last night." Cameron looked offended and House, for a moment, relented. "You ok with it?"

"Obviously I'm not _ok_ with it House, she's seventeen and she almost died from taking cocaine; of course I'm not _ok_ with it. But I can't exactly yell at her for it, can I?"

"Why not?"

"Two reasons. First of all, I'm the only one she really trusts and if I went around yelling and screaming at her every time she screwed up she'd never come to me with anything. And secondly, it would be more than hypocritical." House leaned forward slightly, intrigued by the hidden meaning in Cameron's words.

"Excuse me?" he said, trying not to sound as incredulous as he really was.

"Oh don't look so surprised." Cameron half-snapped at him. "I tried it, once. I'm not the goody two-shoes everyone thinks, you know." House was shocked. He had never seen this side of Cameron, and had certainly never more than briefly contemplated the fact that somewhere inside of her was a wild-child that wanted to get out. Although; the one night stand with Chase had certainly been an interesting insight into her character.

"So what else did you do?" He asked conversationally, and she rolled her eyes.

"I have to get to work." She told him, standing up and smoothing creases out of her pants. Rather than the t-shirt and jeans combo she had worn yesterday, today she was back in 'Dr. Cameron' mode; a pants-suit with her hair twisted into something intricate yet professional.

"And by work you mean, what exactly? I did my own mail, you're off clinic duty and your sister is our only patient. Plus, it's barely eight thirty so Foreman and Chase won't be here for at least another hour. In short; you have no work." House observed.

"I'll find some." She retorted, before turning on her heel and practically storming from his office into the conference room. He could hear her banging textbooks and shuffling papers; no doubt as loudly as she could manage. He sighed, fishing his iPod out of his jacket pocket. He plugged the earbuds into his ears, and scrolled through his play list to find the loudest song he had.

* * *

"So we're taking the brain haemorrhage off the table?" Foreman asked, for the third time in as many minutes.

"Yes, for the last time. The haemorrhage was _not_ a symptom of whatever else is going on with her." Cameron groaned, rubbing her temples.

"Well we can't just ignore it." Chase objected, "How do we know it's not a symptom of something else."

"Because she took cocaine, alright?" Cameron snapped, getting abruptly to her feet. "Are you happy now? She almost _died_ because she took cocaine. It has nothing to do with whatever else is screwing up her system, so for the last time, we are ruling it _out_." And with that, she stormed out of the conference room, her lab coat billowing out behind her.

Chase and Foreman exchanged looks, and House who had been sitting silently observing the whole exchange whistled through his teeth.

"Wow, you guys just don't know when to stop, do you?" he mocked. "Foreman, run neuro obs every hour, make sure her little 'experiment' isn't going to have a delayed reaction. Chase…I don't know. Go do some clinic hours or something."

"What?" Chase demanded indignantly. "I did your clinic hours yesterday. Why can't Foreman do clinic?"

"Because Foreman is a neurologist, and we need him to make sure that our patient didn't fry her pretty little brain. If she crashes and takes a ride to intensive care, we'll call for our specialist in _that_ area. Do you see where I'm going with this or would you like a diagram?" House gestured to the whiteboard and Chase gave a snort of annoyance, before doing as he was told and heading down to the clinic.

"And what are you gonna do?" Foreman asked, twirling a pen in his fingers.

"I am going to supervise."

* * *

After searching for Cameron in the lab, the clinic, the women's bathrooms on every floor, _and_ the cafeteria, House was stumped. There was only one place left that he hadn't tried.

"Why were you wandering around the hospital like a mental patient?" Cameron questioned as House ambled onto the roof. He stared at her and she almost laughed.

"I called Foreman to check on Hayley, he said you were roaming the halls."

"I was trying to find you, actually." House answered, hobbling nearer to her. She was stood in the middle of the roof, arms wrapped around her body to protect herself from the cold February air.

"My mom called last night. Well, this morning." Cameron told him, recognising his previous statement as an admission that he was worried about her.

"And?" House asked, looking towards the sky as snowflakes started to drift down.

"We should probably go back in." Cameron said, gesturing to the flecks of white that were falling around them.

"What did she want?" House persisted, certain he wasn't going to let her change the subject. Cameron opened her mouth to answer him, but was interrupted by the ringing of her cell-phone.

"I didn't think you carried your cell-phone at work." House said, thinking aloud.

"I normally don't." Cameron replied as she snapped open the phone, holding it to her ear. "Hello?" she answered, beginning to walk towards the door which led back into the hospital. House followed closely, trying to eavesdrop. "You're here already?"

They made their way down the small flight of stairs, Cameron walking slower than usual to allow House to keep up with her as he negotiated the treacherous decline. "I'll meet you in the lobby of the clinic, ok? Just wait there." House reached the bottom of the stairs and Cameron flipped the phone closed, slipping it into the pocket of her lab coat.

"Will you go check on Hayley for me? And wait with her."

"Foreman's already in there."  
"Well, tell him to go somewhere else." Cameron snapped. "My mother's here."

* * *

So that was a much quicker update than I thought it would be, mainly because I'm off school today. I'm so lazy :P Thanks for all the reviews so far...it's so much fun and really is better than medicine so please keep them coming! Sarah :D 


	7. Chapter 7

House stared at Cameron's back as she walked away from him, twisting the hem of her lab coat sleeve as she went. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do next. Was he meant to wait with Hayley? Or just come up with an excuse to get Foreman out of the room and then leave Hayley by herself. He didn't even know how long Cameron was going to be; presumably she would need to talk to her mother before taking her to see Hayley, but contrary to popular belief he couldn't read minds.

He twisted his cane inside his palm for a few moments, mulling thoughts over in his mind before ambling towards the elevators. Once inside he drummed out a rhythm on the floor, drawing irritated tutting noises from the middle-aged woman with whom he was sharing the ride. The elevator doors pinged and opened and House escaped the woman with as much speed as he could manage. Making his way towards Hayley's room he was still weighing up his choices. It wasn't often he had no idea what to do; with patients it tended to be fairly simple – this is good for them, this is bad for them. With the whole Hayley and Cameron situation, it was totally new territory.

This was why he didn't talk to patients.

* * *

"Do you have to treat me like I'm three years old?" Hayley scowled at Foreman as he laid out five picture cards in front of her. He had just asked her to rearrange them so that they would tell a story; hardly taxing on her brain. Foreman raised an eyebrow at her, and repeated his question.

"Can you arrange the pictures to tell a story?"

"Well of course I _can_." Hayley said, "But I don't really want to." Foreman sighed, biting back a comment that he knew Cameron wouldn't approve of. Seeing his frustrated expression Hayley relented. "I don't mean to be difficult, really. I just don't understand how sorting some stupid pictures means my brain is ok?"

"Because we're the doctors and we said so." House's voice interrupted from the doorway. Hayley rolled her eyes, and Foreman groaned quietly.

"You're supposed to be wearing a gown." House told Hayley, noting as he entered the room, that she was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater. Her hair was tied into two plaits.

"We already had that discussion." Foreman pointed out, "But-"

"Allie brought me my own clothes 'cos she knows I hate hospital gowns. She said she would clear it with you."

"She went all the way to New York to pick up jeans and a sweater?" House asked.

"No, I keep a load of stuff in my room at her place." Both House and Hayley were ignoring the frustrated motions that Foreman was making. "Foreman, you're needed in the lab." House told him, and Foreman looked half-confused, half-relieved. He left the room without even picking up his picture cards. Hayley glanced down at them and then back up to House – who by now was stood nonchalantly at the foot of her bed. With a triumphant smirk she flipped the pictures around so that they told the story.

"Foreman doesn't like me. He thinks I'm a spoilt rich girl who took drugs to get attention." Hayley told House as he moved to sit on the chair beside her bed.

"He doesn't think that." He said. "And of course he likes you; you're essentially a stuffed animal, just like your sister." Hayley suppressed a laugh.

"I am _not_ a stuffed animal. And for that matter neither is Allie."

"Yeah, right." House snorted.

"Am I gonna be able to leave sometime soon?" Hayley abruptly changed the subject and House reached towards the foot of her bed to grab her chart. "I mean, you worked out the reason for the brain haemorrhage…and none of the other symptoms are life-threatening, are they?" House's eyes flickered as he scanned the medical chart, reviewing the alphabet soup of medications used to treat the bleeding in Hayley's brain. "I really hate hospitals." Hayley said when he didn't answer.

"I think we should keep you in for one more night minimum. There's obviously something else going on, you think you could stay with Cameron for a while 'til we figure it out?" House thought aloud. Hayley shrugged.

"I'm supposed to be in school, but I guess given the fact that my brain was bleeding…they should be fine with it. And I have my own room at Allie's place anyway."

"You mentioned that. You spend a lot of time there?"

"I've had a room in every apartment Allie's lived in since she left college. I stay with her over Christmas, Spring Break and all but one week of summer vacation." Hayley twisted a stray thread on the sleeve of her sweater, in the same way that Cameron had been earlier. There was a companionable silence in the room, broken only when House asked;

"So what other illegal stuff have you 'felt' like doing?"

* * *

"I can't believe you're making me do this." Cameron said, taking the pen her mother was offering and swirling her signature in all the right places on the papers in front of her. She and her mother were in the hospital cafeteria, going over a few things before visiting Hayley.

"I have no choice Allison." Penny Cameron answered wearily, taking a sip of her cafeteria coffee. "This is terrible." She said, wrinkling her nose.

"You do have a choice Mom. You could try talking to her." Cameron ignored the coffee comment and slid the papers back over to her mother. "This'll devastate her; you know that, don't you?"

"I have no choice." Penny repeated, slipping the pen and the file back into her purse. "Shall we go?" Cameron stood and led the way towards the elevators, her icy, well-dressed, mother following smartly in her wake. She tried to contain the urge to throw up as she heard the even footsteps behind her.

* * *

"You are _so_ lying." House laughed, and Hayley shook her head, giggling. House had both his legs propped up on her bed, and she was sat with her legs tucked beneath her.

"I am not! Seriously, it was hilarious."

"I think it's touching how you find your sister's humiliation so incredibly amusing." House remarked. Hayley giggled, about to reply when;

"Hello Hayley." The teenager's head snapped around from House to stare at the doorway, where her mother stood stiffly. Behind Penny was Cameron, looking exceptionally awkward and like she wanted to cry or die or both.

"Mom!" Hayley gasped, her face lighting up when she realised her mother was actually there, in her hospital room. Cameron saw it too, and it only made the sinking feeling in her stomach worse.

"Doctor House." Penny stretched out a hand, which House slowly took. He eased his legs down from the bed, to settle his feet on the floor, and watched the uneasy meeting. Gradually the ecstatic smile on Hayley's face was fading, Penny was stood stonily at the foot of the bed and Cameron…House had never seen her look so uncomfortable.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Hayley asked, her eyes locked onto her mother's face. Penny's steadfastness seemed to falter, just for brief second as her eyes darted towards her oldest daughter. "Mom?" Hayley asked again. House felt as if he was prying, yet something in the way Cameron was avoiding everyone's gaze but his told him that she wanted him to stay.

"Mom!" Hayley repeated, louder.

"I took a personal day." Penny answered, rummaging inside her purse and drawing out a thin file. Hayley gave a glimmer of a smile at the thought of her mother taking a personal day – the first in almost nine years, to come and visit her in the hospital.

"I went to see Richard Timmons." Penny continued, and Hayley looked confused.

"Richard Timmons as in _Uncle_ Richard? Dad's old boss?" Penny nodded. "Why?" Hayley asked, for the first time looking at Cameron's uneasy face.

"What's going on?"

"I've signed over legal guardianship to your sister." Penny replied without a single hesitation.

"What?" Hayley gasped. She felt winded; as if someone had hit her in the chest with a baseball bat and rushed all the oxygen out of her system.

"You are no longer my responsibility. Your father will still have his parental rights but as of today Allison will have primary responsibility for you. She's now your legal guardian." Cameron ran a hand wearily over her face. She hadn't wanted to agree, she hadn't wanted to do this to Hayley.

"I don't understand. You're my mother, you can't do this." Hayley's mind fizzed with thoughts.

"I already have, Hayley. It's done, the papers are signed. Once you're discharged from here, you'll move in with Allison and finish up high-school in New Jersey. I can't do this anymore."

"Do what?" Hayley suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline at her mother's words. "Can't do _what_, Mom? Ignore me? Punish me? Hate me? Which of those can't you do?"

"I can't do _this_. All of the fighting, and the rule-breaking and attention-seeking. It's too much, and I can't…I won't do any of it anymore."

"Attention seeking?"

"The drinking and sneaking around, staying out all night and not eating, and now drugs? Everything you do is to get attention focused back onto you."

"Back onto me? Attention was never _on_ me! It was always Michelle, _always_! Even after she died, you acted like I was invisible. You act like I'm a murderer!"

"Hayley, you have to calm down." Cameron approached her little sister, who was trembling with a mixture of anger and distress. The monitors which Hayley was still attached to were showing a dangerously high heart rate. House stood, surprisingly easily he found, and adjusted various monitors. His eyes connected with Cameron's over the top of Hayley's head. She had one hand wrapped around Hayley's shaking wrist and the other one holding on tightly to her sister's shoulder. Hayley paid no attention to the doctors; she was focused solely on her mother. Penny Cameron remained like a statue at the foot of Hayley's bed.

"Mom, please. Please don't do this." Hayley pleaded, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

"This is all I can do." Penny answered. She indicated the thin file she was holding. "This is your copy of all the important documents. There's another one for your sister; you'll need them to register at your new school. I've already contacted the best ones in the area; all you have to do is visit and decide what one you want to go to." Penny said this as if it was a gift; a kind of silver lining.

"You can't do this." Hayley whimpered and Cameron tried to put her arms around the devastated girl. Hayley shook her off. "Mom _please_!" she pleaded.

"I'll call in a few days to see how you're doing." Penny said, with a nod at Cameron. She turned around and began to walk out of the room.

"Mom! Mom, come back!" Hayley yelled after her, but Penny didn't look over her shoulder; she just continued walking steadily. "MOM! Mom! Mom, _please_, come back! Mommy!" Hayley's voice grew to a scream and Cameron managed to reach her arms around her sister. Hayley was shaking fiercely as sobs wracked her body.

"It's ok, it's gonna be ok." Cameron tried to soothe, but nothing could console her devastated sister. House slowly withdrew from the pair and limped as fast as he could manage down the corridor after their mother.

She was stood at the end of the hall, waiting for the elevator.

"Hey!" he called, but she didn't turn around. She barely even flinched. "HEY!" He said, and he wasn't sure if she turned because of the added volume of his voice, or because he was barely three feet behind her.

"Doctor House, Allison is in charge of Hayley's medical care now. You have nothing to talk to me about." She said, her voice clipped. The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, pressing the correct button. House slipped in just before the doors closed.

"That's where you're wrong." He replied darkly.

* * *

I love love love reviews. And I've tried to reply to everyone who's reviewed so far but just in case, I want to say thank you to...

saz89, bones4life, mongoose 187, mikesh, bglswrth454, voice of 1000 thoughts, lalakid87, souker, aerohead1980, Braelyn Rae, FizzyWater, DarkAngelXF, band122005, KewlKid, Limaccia, eldritchangeling, AllyCameron, BrittElizabeth, i.have.an.idea, fresh42jazz, SapereAude, RosaLev, tubazrule, ColorOfAngels, Lady Theadora, mishy-mo, Teardrops 13, mitfordgal, Purple.H

...because you make writing worthwhile, and cheer me up with your great reviews.

And I realise that I may have bugged some people with the semi-cliffhanger but hey, I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter! Sarah :D


	8. Chapter 8

Wow, chapter 8 already. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, I hope you like the next chapter...!

* * *

There was silence in the elevator, only the hideously repetitive 'musak' that was piped through a speaker. House felt Penny's gaze fix on him; waiting for him to speak. He reached forward and pressed the 'emergency stop' button on the panel, and Penny let out shocked gasp.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked harshly. House turned and leaned against the wall of the elevator, casting a glance over the woman now standing looking outraged. Hayley and Cameron clearly got their looks from their mother; they had the same eyes, cheekbones and despite the elegant grey of Penny Cameron's hair it was clear that she had once shared the coppery-auburn hair both her daughters had.

"The average elevator ride lasts between fifteen and twenty seconds. Hardly enough time for a decent conversation." he said after a few moments. Penny raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at him, and for a second he was stunned. It really was unnatural that Hayley and Cameron could be so alike their mother and so completely unlike her at the same time.

"Doctor House, I have nothing to say to you."

"Well that's good cos I have plenty to say to you." House snapped, finally losing his cool with this impossibly composed woman.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you realise what you've just done to your daughter? Your _daughters?_"

"That's has nothing to do with you." Penny said tightly

"That's where you're wrong; it has everything to do with me." House said, before a buzzing sound could be heard in the elevator. Penny looked slightly alarmed as House calmly flipped open the panel covering the red emergency phone.

"Nice to know something can get to you." He muttered before holding the phone to his ear. "What?" he barked.

"This is Gary, from maintenance. We're working to get the elevator started again; it shouldn't be more than thirty minutes."

"Take your time." House said, with a dark look at Penny.

"How many people are in there?" Gary asked.

"Two. But we're fine; don't worry about us." House hung up the red phone and snapped the cover shut.

"How long to you intend to hold me hostage?" Penny asked and House gave a wicked smirk.

"Oh I don't know. How long do you intend to punish your daughter for something that wasn't her fault?"

"You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know anything."

"Do you?" House retorted, noting that his last remark sounded more than a little childish. Penny's fingers toyed with the clasp on her purse.

"You don't know how hard it was for me and my husband. What we went through when Michelle was sick, and deciding to have Hayley. And through all the relapses…when she died…" House got a sadistic jolt of satisfaction when Penny's voice caught and trailed off.

"I may not know how hard it was for you, but frankly I don't care. I just know how hard it was on your daughters. I know that you made Cameron feel like she wasn't good enough and I know that you treated Hayley like a bunch of spare parts."

"I did _not_! I adored my daughters. All of them."

"Note the past tense." House muttered. "Do you even know your daughters?"

"Of course I do." Penny responded immediately.

"What allergies does Hayley have? How does Cameron take her coffee?" He fired off, and Penny looked blank.

"I…I don't know." She stammered.

"I know. Hayley's allergic to penicillin and pineapples, and Cameron takes her coffee with milk, no sugar. I also know that when Hayley got septicaemia she was so sick that she had to be intubated and you never visited her once."

"Michelle was sicker."

"Michelle was dead. Hayley was _dying_ and you didn't even go to her. You left it all to your husband and your seventeen year old daughter to deal with her. Do you have any idea what that did to her?"

"I lost a _child_ Doctor House!" Penny yelled at him.

"And they lost their sister!" House yelled back, for the first time getting really angry with the woman. "Cameron lost Michelle and she almost lost Hayley too. Did you even try to make it any better? No. You couldn't even bring yourself to comfort the two kids you had left. And don't even try to tell me you don't blame them for Michelle's death."

"I…I don't!" Penny tried to object but she was silenced by a scathing look from House.

"Of course you do. Cameron wasn't good enough to begin with, because she wasn't a complete match. But newsflash; it's not her fault. Foetuses don't choose their genes you know. And as for Hayley, well can you say parental pressure?" House was so livid that his usually sarcastic nature was surfacing. Penny was stunned into silence, and he continued.

"You made that kid think that the only thing she was good for was saving her sister's life. And yeah, maybe if she'd had the choice she _would_ have donated her liver…and whatever Michelle would have needed if it meant that she got to keep her sister and _make her mother happy_. But she couldn't, could she?" He paused to take a breath. "She did the unspeakable and got sick herself, didn't she? And she almost _died_, didn't she? She was that _selfish_ that she almost died trying to save her sister. You had three daughters. And two of them are sitting upstairs, devastated at what you just did to them."

"I had no other choice."

"THERE IS _ALWAYS _ANOTHER CHOICE!" House roared.

"I…I want…Let me out of this elevator, right now." Penny snapped, scrabbling for the emergency stop button. House placed a hand over it, guarding it from her smartly manicured fingernails.

"I think you did the right thing." he said quietly, his voice brimming with rage. Penny's head snapped up and she looked at him as if he had gone mad. "I think you did the right thing by giving Hayley to her sister. Because Cameron is a million times the woman you are, and she love her sister more than anything else in the world. And, even though neither of them will believe it right now, because despite everything you've done to them they both still love _you_, eventually they will realise that they're both better off without you. You are a cruel, heartless bitch and the sooner both Hayley _and_ Cameron figure that out the better."

House slammed the button down and the elevator whirred into life. Penny Cameron stood staring at him, slightly open-mouthed. As the elevator slowed to a stop she smoothed down her skirt and rearranged her jacket, so that when the doors opened she stepped smartly out. The confused workman; one he didn't recognise, stared after her as she walked briskly through the lobby and out through the doors.

"Problem with the wife?" He asked House, with a gormless grin. House silently pressed the 'close door' button and fell back heavily against the wall, listening to the clinking sounds of the 'musak'. He rummaged in one of his pockets for his Vicodin, and took two, feeling the pills scrape against his throat. Staring through blurry eyes at the shining buttons he pressed randomly, feeling his stomach swirl as the elevator jumped into action.

* * *

It wasn't often that he felt anything remotely similar to sympathy. He hated it when people pitied him because of his leg, and had decided long ago that if you felt sorry for your patients you probably weren't going to do a very good job of treating them. Of course, Cameron was steadily disproving that theory, not that he ever planned on telling her so. 

He watched the scene through the closed glass doors, not wanting to go in and disturb them, but somehow unable to take his eyes off what he saw. When he had left Hayley and Cameron to 'talk' to their mother, the younger girl had been hysterical and grabbing on as tightly to her sister as possible. Cameron had been equally distraught, but restrained.

Now they lay closely together on Hayley's bed; Cameron's arms wrapped firmly around her baby sister. Hayley's eyes were open but she looked sleepy, her eyes were pink from crying and her breathing was erratic and laboured. Her head was resting on Cameron's shoulder, and her hand was curled up, and she was biting the tip of her thumb. Cameron was stroking Hayley's hair slowly, trying to soothe her sister in any way possible.

He must have made a noise because Cameron suddenly looked around and he saw that her eyes too were swollen with tears, and her make-up was smudged slightly; grey rings around her blue eyes. He made a tiny nod; that one small movement saying more than he could ever manage with words. Cameron inclined her head likewise; gently so she didn't disturb Hayley.

House turned and walked slowly down the corridor, into his office and locked the door behind him. He moved over to his desk, leaning his elbows on the table and rubbing his hands over his face. He sighed heavily, resting his head in his hands. This was why he never talked to his patients.

* * *

As always, please review cos it really does make my day!!! Sarah :D 


	9. Chapter 9

Cameron eased slowly off the bed, trying to make sure that she didn't disturb Hayley. It had been almost three hours since their mother left, and Hayley had finally given into sleep about thirty minutes ago. Cameron felt sick to her stomach thinking about what her mother had done, and what she had agreed to. In the more recent months Hayley had begun trying to pretend that they way their mother treated her didn't hurt; it was clear now just how much she had been lying.

Hayley stirred gently, curling her fingers tightly in her hair as tears slid down her cheeks. It was something Cameron hadn't seen for years. When Hayley was younger, and in and out of the hospital donating something for Michelle, she had always been so good at convincing everyone it didn't hurt as much as it really did. She never knew that the moment she fell asleep rivers of tears would come and give away the secret.

Cameron laid a hand on Hayley's forehead and felt the hot warmth. Almost too hot, she thought worriedly, and she reached down to take Hayley's pulse. Slightly fast, but not irregular. She smoothed down her sister's hair and the teenager shifted a little, her eyelids spiked with tears. Cameron watched for a second while Hayley's body moved evenly with every breath. She heaved a deep sigh, and moved to the door, opening it as quietly as possible. With one last glance at Hayley she began to walk down the corridor, towards the only place in the hospital where she felt able to breathe.

* * *

House jumped, wondering what had woken him from a surprisingly even sleep, given that he was still in his office, and sat at his desk. As tried to clear the fuzziness that was enveloping him, he heard a noise. It wasn't loud or particularly obvious; in fact he wasn't totally sure he wasn't imagining it. He glanced at the clock; two in the morning, and found his bottle of pills. He hesitated just before swallowing two; because he was sure he heard that same noise again. As soon as he felt the edge of the pain wear off he struggled to his feet and wandered out of his office.

Sitting slumped over the table in the conference room, with her head in her hands, was Cameron. She was crying; her shoulders heaving with the effort of her sobs. Obviously she had known he was in his office because she was barely making any noise at all; just an occasional desperate sound that she couldn't keep in, no matter how she tried.

For a few moments, he didn't know what to do, but she must have heard him breathing because her head snapped round; eyes red from crying and pale streaks down her face where her tears had washed away her make-up. A distressed and broken noise escaped her when she saw him standing there, and the next thing he knew was that he was on the chair beside her. His arm was bracing her as she laid her head against his chest, violently sobbing; unable to restrain herself now he had seen her.

Neither of them knew what time it was, or how long they stayed in that position, Cameron held tight against him with neither of them saying a word. Eventually, Cameron's tears subsided until she was left exhausted and hiccupping slightly against him. He didn't even notice about the slowly increasing ache in his thigh until she moved away from him, the absence of her body against him sending a jolt of pain.

Cameron didn't know whether she was supposed to say something. What exactly would she have said anyway? Drawing away from him she felt embarrassment creep over her, a pink tinge on her cheeks giving away her secret. She looked at him cautiously, trying to gauge his own reaction. House just gave his usual stare; non-committal and yet engrossed all at the same time. She scrubbed at her face with the sleeve of her lab-coat, moaning when she saw the greyish smudge that her make-up left on the sparkling white fabric.

"It'll wash." House said, and she almost jumped at the sound of his voice. She nodded absently, picking at the smudge with her thumbnail.

"I should go." She said, glancing around the room, anywhere but at him.

"Hayley won't wake up until morning, you could go home and sleep?" house asked, silently kicking himself for suggesting the one thing he knew she would never do. As if he had written the script, Cameron shook her head.

"No. I want to be there when she does. She's already been abandoned once today, she needs to know I'm here whatever."

"Well, the couch is free if you want to crash for a while." He said, and Cameron raised an eyebrow. For a brief moment she looked like the 'old' Cameron, the one he knew. She smiled. "Thanks. I'll go check on her and then-"

"I'll check on her." House interrupted. "If you go in there you won't leave, and then you'll be useless in the morning when she really does need you."

"No, House I should-"

"Cameron, go to sleep." House ordered, reaching out and grasping her upper arm and standing abruptly. She stood with him, not that she really had a choice.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, and House sighed, letting go of her arm.

"You had to apologise." He said; a hint of irritation in his voice. Cameron's eyes flickered upwards in half-shock.

"No, I meant your shirt." She hesitated, indicating a small damp patch on his chest where her tears had soaked through.

"Oh." House remarked. "Right. Well, go to sleep anyway." Cameron rolled her eyes, and stepped past him, heading towards his office. House watched her slip off her shoes and sit on the couch, bringing her legs up onto the cushion beside her.

"I'm not going to sleep until you check on Hayley." She called through.

"Of course you aren't." House replied, before sauntering leisurely out of the conference room. He saw Cameron studying him as he passed his own office wall and tutted when she craned her neck to watch him walk out of sight.

* * *

Hayley's room was in darkness as House approached. He stood for a moment, watching, before sliding the door across and tiptoeing inside as easily as he could. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust from the strip lighting of the hall to the absence of lighting in the room – Cameron had drawn the blinds so Hayley could sleep.

House moved towards the bed, glancing unconsciously at the monitors that surrounded the headboard. And it was then that he realised, they weren't turned on. He couldn't hear the constant gentle whirring and beeping that they made, or see the green and red and yellow lights that he expected to see in a patient's room. And then, the most unexpected absence of all – instead of seeing Hayley Cameron's sleeping form nestled underneath the regulation blankets and sheets, there was nothing.

He ran as well as he could manage to the door, reaching out and slapping the light switch and realising as he did so that he was right; Hayley wasn't in her room. A hurried glance at his watch as he ran to the nurses' station showed that it was three thirty in the morning.

"Hayley Cameron, where is she?" he yelled at the night-nurse; a young blonde who looked to be around twenty or so. He had seen her chatting with Chase a few times. She paled underneath his gaze and rummaged around the counter for Hayley's file. "Come on; just tell me if someone took her somewhere."

"No, Doctor House. No-one's been in that room since…" Blonde nurse rechecked her notes. "Since Doctor Cameron left at 20.35. She left instructions for no-one to interrupt her sister without talking to her first."

"Dammit." House growled, and the nurse cowered.

"What should I do?" she hesitated.

"Well for starters, call Security and tell them we have a missing patient. And then you can tell me exactly _how_ a patient manages to just disappear on your watch."

* * *

Thanks to FizzyWater for pointing out my continuity error when I first posted this chapter. Hopefully now it's fixed! 


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, a new chapter! Double wow, it's over 2000 words! If only French coursework was as easy as this... Seriously though, I just want to say thank you to everyone has reviewed so far; especially if I didn't reply to a review. Alerts went 'funny' on me and I think I missed some, so if you reviewed and I didn't reply, sorry and thank you.

On with the chapter!

* * *

"How do you lose a post-coma patient?" Cameron asked the nurse in a terrifyingly low voice. She even made House nervous, he had never seen her display this kind of anger before. Shouting yes, silence yes, but never this dark, intense, almost murderous anger. Blonde nurse, whose real name was Dannie, was cowering under the force of Cameron's rage.

"I'm sorry…" she stammered weakly, "You left intructions that she wasn't to be disturbed." The sounds of Cameron's palms hitting the counter-top of the nurses' station bounced off the walls.

"_Disturbed_ means you don't go in and wake her up!" She yelled furiously, and Dannie's shoulders shook visibly in terror. "Are you stupid? Post-coma patients need consistent observation; you don't just ignore them for two hours!"

"Cameron," House finally said, stepping in and taking a hold of her arm. She whipped around to look at him, eyes blazing.

"What?" she snapped. He tightened his hold on her a little, led her away from the nurses' station. She was quivering with anger, her pulse racing underneath his grip.

"Is that really making you feel better?" he asked quietly.

"Yes." She lied, but her expression gave her away; her bottom lip began to quiver and suddenly her eyelashes were spiked with tears.

We'll find-" House's reassurance was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the telephone. Nurse Dannie jumped a half-mile out of her skin before snatching up the handset. She listened for a few seconds then glanced towards Cameron; seeming equally terrified and piteous in one simple look.

"Dr. Cameron…they found her." She hesitated, and in an instant Cameron was flush against the nurses' station, desperate for this tiny glimmer of hope.

"Where is she? Is she in the hospital? Is she ok?" she fired questions at the nurse, eyes almost wild and searching for something, anything that Dannie could give her.

"She's on the roof." came the small reply, and House saw Cameron falter, the angry blush of her cheeks was instantaneously washed away and she looked deathly pale. He moved forward and slipped his arm around her, gripping her left elbow to support her. Cameron leaned into him and allowed him to guide her towards the stairs. Cameron being Cameron, she broke through her own daze to wait patiently on each step for him, feeling a wrench of emotion as he determinedly climbed the steps.

As they reached the top of the impossibly long ascent, Cameron could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door and she stopped abruptly, terrified of what she was going to find. House reached out and turned the handle for her, moving back so that they could see together. She felt his hand on her elbow again, steadying her...

* * *

It wasn't like they expected, although neither Cameron nor House were exactly sure what they had thought they would find on the roof. As it was, the scene that lay before them was almost a relief. Three figures were sat in the snow, opposite the doorway with their backs against the low brick wall, so that when House and Cameron finally stumbled through the doorway they could clearly see that in the middle, flanked by two stereotypical security guards, was Hayley. Her head was resting on the shoulder of one of the men, and from his position it looked to House as if the teenager was barely conscious. Cameron rushed over to her sister, and knelt in front of her.

"What did you think you were doing?" she whispered furiously through the tangle of their hair as she pulled the younger girl into a hug, before pulling backwards sharply. She laid a hand flat against Hayley's forehead, feeling the searing hot skin beneath her palm. She looked back over her shoulder to House, who was stood trying to surreptitiously catch his breath.

"She's burning up. Her fever must be at least 101." Cameron told him, and Hayley began to cry, mumbling vaguely.

"It was too hot, and I was too…on fire and the snow was cold. I like the snow." Cameron took in the fact that the sweater and jeans that she was given her sister were drenched, and freezing cold. Hayley had brought herself to the roof to lie in the snow, and get cool House realised, and even through his confusion as to how Hayley had suddenly developed a fever in the hundreds he was impressed at her thinking.

"We need to get her downstairs, and into a clean room." He told Cameron and she asked the beefier of the two security guards to pick up her sister. The man, Kevin, did as she had asked, lifting the teenager easily despite her protestations. Cameron laced her fingers through Hayley's as the younger girl tried to kick out in an effort to get Kevin to let her down.

"Why a clean room?" Cameron asked House as they followed the two security guards, plus Hayley, down the stairs. Cameron instinctively reached out to support House and he tried to ignore the gesture as he answered,

"High fever, possible hallucinations-" Cameron opened her mouth to object and he held a hand up to stall her, "Cameron, what healthy person thinks the best way to lower a fever is to lie in the snow?" Cameron obediently closed her mouth and he continued. "Possible hallucinations, and from what you've given us from her history she has a sustained vulnerability to infection. I don't know what she has right now, but we need to stop her getting anything else before we figure out why this is happening. Are you on the same lines here, or do I need to write it down?"

Cameron allowed herself a small smirk at the typical 'House' wisecrack. She knew he didn't mean it as an insult or something stupid like that, he was trying to make her feel better; like what was happening to her sister wasn't some great and terrifying illness but something that he would easily be able to fix. And she was grateful.

* * *

"99.8" Cameron said, walking over to the glass wall that divided her and House, and holding the thermometer up so that he could see the reading. Hayley was curled semi-conscious on a bed in the clean-room, somewhere in the limbo between asleep and awake. She was wearing a regulation hospital gown; all the clothes she had been wearing were soaked and freezing from where she had lain in the snow.

"Down another four points, that's better." He confirmed, and jerked his head to show that Cameron should join him in the hallway. She turned, walked away and set the thermometer down on the unit beside Hayley's bed before walking back and standing opposite him; the glass separating them. House raised his eyebrow. "You aren't supposed to be in there. Out, now." He instructed and she folded her arms obstinately.

"No, House." Cameron insisted. "I'm staying in here."

"Glass walls, you can see her just as easily from this side as that one. Now come on!"

"I can't."

"It's a relatively easy concept Cameron. One foot in front of the other, repeat until you reach the wall. Press the button, walk through conveniently placed hole in said wall; sometimes called a door, and then out here." Cameron smirked, and then jumped in shock when a small giggle came from behind her.

"He thinks he's being funny." Hayley murmured weakly, as Cameron rushed over to the bed.

"Hey." She said gently, sliding stray tendrils of Hayley's hair away from her hot, damp, forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm on fire."

"You have an ear infection; it caused a really high fever." Cameron told her sister, noting that the younger girl's cheeks were still flushed red.

"Was I on the roof?" Hayley asked, suddenly remembering two burly figures and a lot of snow.

"Apparently you thought lying in the snow was a good way to bring your fever down." Cameron answered, allowing a hint of sarcasm to break through.

"Sorry." Hayley said through a yawn and Cameron smiled affectionately.

"You're back now. But you have to stay in here for a while." She indicated the clean room; with its lack of any non-essential furniture, the complex vacuum doorway and the air-lock box in the middle of the wall.

"You stuck me in the bubble?" Hayley's voice cracked and tears rushed to her eyes as she gazed around the sparse room. From his position on the other side of the glass House couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, she spoke quietly but he could see she was distressed. Cameron's voice however was it's usual clear tone; he could hear her perfectly.

"We had to. Hayley, your fever was so high you hallucinated and wandered onto a roof. You could have been really hurt."

"But I wasn't!" Hayley protested as a tear fell down her hot cheek. She brushed it away, angry with herself for crying.

"Hayley this is serious. Today it was an ear infection, tomorrow it could be something worse."

"What do you mean?" Hayley asked, and Cameron cast her eyes around the room searching for a stool or something else to sit on. She tutted at her own stupidity; no chairs in a clean room, and lowered the safety rail on the bed. House watched as she curled her legs up beneath her, a girlish gesture that made him think of toe-nail painting and sleepovers.

"House thinks that there's something behind all of this, that there's a reason why you keep getting sick. But while we figure it out you have to stay in here because there are far worse things than ear infections floating around this hospital and we can't afford for you to catch anything. Do you understand?"

"Michelle hated clean rooms." Hayley muttered, her eyes focused intently on the pattern of her hospital gown.

"And whenever she had to stay in one you would stand on the other side and make her laugh. Remember when she tried to teach you poker and you had to trade jelly beans through the air-lock?" Cameron replied, holding a hand underneath Hayley's chin and lifting her face upwards; so that they were eye-to-eye.

"I don't like jelly beans anymore." Hayley told her sister, and Cameron laughed.

"If you're lucky I'll steal House's iPod." At the sound of his name House rapped his cane on the wall.

"Cameron, out _now_." He called through the glass, and Hayley giggled at the sound of his muffled voice.

"Go on." She said, and Cameron leaned forward to kiss her sister's forehead.

"I promise you won't be in here a minute longer than is absolutely necessary."

"I'll hold you to that." Hayley said, as Cameron slid off the bed and walked towards the door. She pressed the button and tried not to laugh when House said,

"See, told you it was easy."

A few seconds later she was stood on House's side of the glass, watching Hayley as she wandered around the clean room.

"She's going to be fine." House told the younger doctor and she sighed, her breath misting the glass slightly. She scrubbed the mark away with her sleeve.

"I know. I just wish I could make her 'fine' sooner."

"Foreman and Chase are coming in early, I called them earlier. You up for a differential?" he asked, with what might have been an anxious glance at his youngest employee. "You didn't get any sleep last night, and I'm betting not much the night before."

"You are not cutting me out of the differential." She told him, and he held his hands up in a gesture of mock-surrender.

"Would I dare?" he remarked. "I was just going to suggest that you might want to get some coffee beforehand." He tried to sound indifferent to his own idea; truth was he was worried about Cameron. Her concern for her sister was no doubt warranted but she had only left the hospital for a grand total of seven hours in the past three days, and he hadn't once seen her stop to eat anything.

"Coffee would be good…" Cameron replied, and knocked on the glass. Hayley turned around, stopping her close inspection of the air-lock, and waved at the two doctors.

"But…?" House asked, sensing a second part of her sentence was on it's way.

"Breakfast would be better."

* * *

And there it is...as always please please review, cos they make my world go round :P


	11. Chapter 11

Oh look...Chapter 11! Hooray! I'm so pleased people are enjoying this story - I'm getting so many really wonderful reviews (past the 100 mark, oh my gosh) and it really makes my day. And I'm getting new readers which is always great. I have to mention one person though; Saz89 - my 'number one' fan - I'm so honoured!

Anyway, enough of my essay :D Hope you enjoy this chapter...

* * *

"What do you want?" House asked, indicating the array of food that was on sale. He was trying to decide between a bacon sandwich and an omelette; neither of which he was really hungry for but they were the only things which he had deemed edible.

"Only two things look safe to eat. What is it with hospitals and bad food?" Cameron replied.

"Underlying psychology; bad food deters people. What are you having?"

"Omelette." She decided, selecting a plate and setting it on her tray beside the cup of coffee she had already selected. House reached in front of her and picked up a bacon sandwich, placing it on his own plate. They slid the trays along the counter towards the cashier, a bored looking teenager who looked up from her magazine just long enough to ring up their choices.

"$6.90." she told them, and Cameron rummaged in her pockets for a ten-dollar bill she knew she had somewhere.

"Put it on the tab." House told the girl, who began to look slightly worried.

"I'm not really supposed to do that."

"Well if you get in trouble say Doctor Wilson forced you to do it."

"Doctor Wilson?" the girl asked, and Cameron looked at House with a puzzled look on her face.

"What are you doing?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Put the food on Doctor Wilson's tab. I'll pay up at the end of the week." The girl looked wary, but grabbed a notepad and scribbled something illegible on the first page.

"Enjoy your food." She told them, and returned to her magazine.

"Good?" House asked, noting that Cameron was almost finished with her omelette.

"No." she replied instantly, "But I'm hungry, so bad food is better than no food at all."

"Apparently so."

"Well, you've hardly touched your sandwich." Cameron polished off the last forkful of her omelette and set her fork down neatly on the plate, lining it up with her knife.

"Not really hungry. No food is better than bad food in that case." House shrugged, taking a mouthful of his coffee. Cameron smiled as she saw him wrinkle his nose in distaste.

"There's a reason you always make mine you know."

"Enlighten me." Cameron remarked. House saw that Foreman and Chase had just entered the cafeteria and were waving him over. He was glad Cameron was facing the window and couldn't see them. For the first time in days she was relaxed, and he leaned towards her conspiratorially.

"Cafeteria coffee has been officially recognised as the worst coffee in the world."

"Really?" she played along, and House tried to hide his annoyance as Chase and Foreman got bored with hand signals and started walking towards the table he and Cameron were sharing.

"Scientific fact." he nodded. "You're taking your life in your hands just drinking that." House watched as she sipped her own cup of coffee warily.

"We've been looking for you." Foreman said as he and Chase approached the table. Cameron turned in her seat to look at her male colleagues.

"We came in early and everything." Chase added, pointing towards House's sandwich as if to ask 'Are you eating that?' House raised an eyebrow cynically, and tipped the sandwich onto Cameron's plate.

"I can't eat any more." Cameron protested. "And we have to get to work."

"Decent coffee first, work after."

"How about decent coffee _while_ we work?" Cameron said, handing the bacon sandwich to Chase as she stood and brushed non-existent crumbs off her lap. House stood with them and pushed his way through Chase and Foreman, leaning heavily on his cane as he hobbled across the cafeteria.

* * *

"An ear infection isn't life-threatening; she doesn't need to be in a clean room." Foreman commented, reviewing Hayley's updated notes.

"A fever of 105 that causes hallucinations can be life-threatening." Chase countered,

"Well _yeah_, when the patient takes a walk on the roof in the middle of the night." House drawled sarcastically and was surprised to see Cameron raise her hand to her mouth to hide a smirk.

"You're both missing the point." He continued, accepting his usual red mug from Cameron. She took her seat at the table and reached forward to take the remaining copy of her sister's notes.

"How?" Chase said, flipping through the pages to see whether what it was they had missed. House tapped the whiteboard with his cane; indicating the list of Hayley's hospital visits which were scribbled in black. He had added 'ear infection' in blue scrawl. Chase and Foreman looked blank. Cameron was trying desperately to look interested but her tiredness was betraying her and she yawned delicately.

"Read between the lines, people! These symptoms aren't just random incidences, there has to be something which is causing them. And we can't afford for Hayley to get something _more_ life-threatening than fever-induced hallucinations before we figure out what it is, can we?" House raised his voice slightly. Foreman and Chase exchanged a look, which House ignored in typical fashion.

"Right then. The haemorrhage we know about, so let's ignore that," Using the rubber end of his cane he scrubbed through that line on the board. He ran his cane from bottom to top, pointing at each symptom in turn. "Microfracture surgery…why would a seventeen year old who hasn't been engaging in heavy physical activity need surgery to relieve extreme joint pain?"

Again, Chase and Foreman looked blank. Cameron kept quiet; House had already told her to listen rather than talk; something about personal involvement, bias. She had thought it would be difficult to listen to the differential and not participate, but in reality it was quite easy to sit and listen to House fire sarcastic comments at Chase and Foreman. She knew he had a point, and while she usually found it slightly irritating when he did this kind of thing, she trusted him to get to it eventually.

House sighed at the incompetence of his two male employees. He turned to Cameron, who had her elbow propped up on the table and was resting her head in her hand. She looked exhausted and he almost felt bad for calling on her.

"Cameron." She sat more upright in her seat, alert at the sound of her name.

"She's always had pain in her joints; knees, shoulders and elbows mostly. About ten months ago her boyfriend had to take her to the ER 'cos she couldn't extend her arms. And then in October last year she was in phys. ed. and the teacher had to call 911 cos she couldn't stand." The female doctor recited, not even stopping to stumble over dates.

"Joint swelling can be a symptom of rheumatoid arthritis." Foreman commented.

"She had an Ortho consult when she went in with the pain in her elbows. He said that it was a possibility but she was too young; didn't bother to follow it up." Cameron fired off, followed by a yawn. House wandered over to the sink unit and rummaged around the cabinets.

"Ok, so possibly-unexplained joint pain." He said, clanging a spoon into a cup. "Next symptom…?"

"Chest infection developed into pneumonia." Foreman answered. "Nine months after a hospitalisation for a serious kidney infection."

"Vulnerability to infections." Chase observed.

"Congratulations, Captain Obvious." House said in a voice heavy with sarcasm as he set a fresh cup of coffee on the table in front of Cameron. The action wasn't lost on Foreman and Chase, who exchanged curious and amused looks. Cameron however seized on the cup gratefully.

"So we have joint pain, susceptibility to infections, which by the way have a tendency to develop into serious illnesses before she can get treatment, what else?"

"April 2005…" Foreman began; eyes on the file in front of him. House noticed how Cameron's fingers tensed around her coffee cup.

"Anorexia's not a symptom." Chase said as gently as possible.

"She wasn't anorexic." Cameron half-snapped at him.

"She was in an eating disorder's clinic for almost a month." Foreman pointed out and Cameron swivelled in her seat to face him.

"Read the dietician's report – they put her on steroids three days into the treatment and she only gained six pounds in the whole time they kept her. The weight loss wasn't her fault."

"Two ER visits for sudden collapse and weight loss of 20 pounds in three months isn't just a random incidence."

"The weight loss wasn't her fault." Cameron repeated and Foreman leaned back in his chair. "Look, don't you think that I would have kept her in the clinic if I thought she needed to be there? She was there for a whole month having daily counselling, protein supplements, three full meals a day plus the steroids. She _couldn't_ put any weight on."

"Unexplained weight loss." House said, diverting a situation which he sensed would have Cameron in tears within minutes.

"Plus general fatigue and malaise." Chase added, glad that House had stopped Foreman from continuing. Cameron was blatantly upset and there was no need to make it worse.

"So we've got joint pain, susceptibility to infection, _unexplained_ weight loss," House paused to shoot a look at Foreman, "fatigue and malaise. What does that sound like?"

"Autoimmune." All three doctors replied.

"Chase, go run a CBC and check her neutrophil count. Be nice with the needles, she already hates you. Foreman, you get the great pleasure of my clinic hours." Foreman opened his mouth as if to object, but a single look from House was enough to stop him from speaking. Both male doctors stood up out of their seats and left the room, turning different directions to head to their respective assignments.

"Thanks for the coffee." Cameron said to House, who was facing the whiteboard again.

"Couldn't have you falling asleep in the middle of a differential, could we?" he remarked over his shoulder.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, noting his careful study of the board. It was a few seconds before he answered her.

"I'm not sure yet." He said, and turned around when he heard the resounding chinking of her ceramic mug being placed unceremoniously onto the glass table-top. "What?"

"How can I know what's wrong with her? I'm an _immunologist_! How could I not put this all together and come up with auto-immune?" She ran a hand wearily through her hair, frustrated with herself. Again, it took House a few seconds to answer her.

"Sometimes we don't see what's right in front of us."

* * *

Did you like it? I hope you did but even if you didn't you have have have to TELL ME. Please. Especially since I went all out with as much House/Cam fluffiness as possible...for all those who so desperately wanted it :D 


	12. Chapter 12

It's been quite a while between updates, which is weird for me. Deepest apologies; I hope the chapter makes up for it...

* * *

"So, what'd you bring me?" House asked as Chase entered the conference room. The younger doctor handed over a few pieces of paper; Hayley's lab results, before moving towards the sink unit and running his arm under cold water. Cameron leaned forward to try and get a look at them and House whipped them out of her eye line; holding them tight against his chest and staring down his nose at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he snuck a peek at the results before sliding them across the table towards her. As Cameron browsed the results, her forehead creasing the way it always did when she was concentrating, House looked over at Chase; puzzled by his actions.

"What in God's name are you doing?" He asked and Chase turned to face his boss.

"Hayley wouldn't let me draw blood unless she could give me a Chinese Burn first. She called it pre-emptive payback." Chase looked offended when Cameron laughed quietly. "I'm glad you find it so funny." He said, and she turned to talk over her shoulder.

"You should count yourself lucky. Once time she and Michelle made a pact that Michelle would pay Hayley a dollar for every time she had to get stuck by a needle. She made seventeen dollars in one week."

"Smart kid." House remarked as Chase took a seat at the table, his face a perfect picture of confusion.

"Who's Michelle?" he asked, and Cameron bit her lip. She hadn't told Foreman or Chase about her sister; House had said it wasn't relevant to Hayley's current condition.

"My sister. She had APL and died when she was 13; Hayley was an allogeneic donor for her." She rattled off in one breath. Chase looked shocked as he registered the information, and what it meant for Cameron to tell him.

"Well, it hurts less already." He said after a few seconds, noticing the tense worried expression on Cameron's face and deciding the best thing to do was to act 'normal'. She gave a small smile and House abruptly reached over and snatched Hayley's lab results out of her hand, slapping them down on the table.

"That was touching, but if we could get with the programme? Lab results showed a severely decreased neutrophil count."

"So it's definitely auto-immune." Chase commented and House threw him a scathing look.

"Are you going for some kind of record for who can make the most obvious comments in one day? If I give you a badge will you shut up?" Chase scowled, but shut up.

"He's right though, it is auto-immune." Cameron said, and House narrowed his eyes.

"Do you want a badge too?" he asked and she rolled her eyes at him, before jumping when the phone rang in the corner. House heaved himself to standing and hobbled over to pick it up. He listened for a moment, and Cameron and Chase stared at each other.

"Dr. Cameron." House said, putting the handset back on its cradle. Cameron turned to look at him. "Apparently there is a six foot tall black man asking for you at the lobby. With flowers." Cameron raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"There is a six foot black man, _with flowers_, in the lobby asking for you." Cameron stood hesitantly, darting little glances at House as if to make sure he wasn't joking. She walked out of the conference room, checking over her shoulder a few times. House heard her footsteps getting quieter and looked at Chase, who shrugged.

"This I have _got_ to see." House smirked.

* * *

House arrived in the lobby in time to see Cameron greeting an impossibly tall black guy with a hug. Chase, who was close behind him, grinned.

"Well this is interesting." The younger doctor said, moving forward to 'investigate' further and House had to fight hard to resist the urge to trip him with his cane. Instead he followed Chase, nearing Cameron and the visitor who were talking animatedly.

"…she's going to be so happy to see you; I didn't even think to call you, or her friends." Cameron said, and the guy grinned.

"Yeah I figured, so I called her school and all her friends signed cards. It's somewhere in the box." House realised that as well as flowers, the guy had brought an office box full of what looked like random goodies, and there was also a knapsack covered in scribbles on the floor at his feet.

"_Ahem_" Chase cleared his throat and Cameron turned, smiling at him and House.

"This is Jake Anderson, Hayley's boyfriend." Chase and Jake shook hands but Cameron had to hide smile when House's only reaction to the visitor was a surveying glance; taking in every little detail – from the NYU sports sweater he was wearing to the well-worn sneakers on his feet.

"Jake, meet Doctors Chase and House."

"You're taking care of Hayley?" Whatever House's opinion of Jake it was clear that he was really worried about Hayley. Chase nodded.

"We're looking into possibly auto-immune diseases, but she should be fine." He said.

"Do you want to go straight up and see her?" Cameron asked, and Jake looked relieved.

"I'll show you," Chase offered, moving to take the box from the counter.

"Thanks." Jake and Cameron said together, and Cameron took a step backwards to let Jake past. House however stood stock still, and both Chase and Jake had to side-step around him. When he heard the gentle ping of the elevator doors he turned to Cameron and raised an eyebrow.

"_That's_ the boyfriend? How old is he?" Cameron lowered her eyes, trying hard to stifle a smile.

"He's 21, a senior at NYU."

"I got that from the sweatshirt." House retorted sarcastically, turning and moving in Jake and Chase's wake towards the elevators. Cameron followed him, shaking her head slightly. She caught up to him at the elevator, and just as his hand stretched out to press the call button she said,

"They met in an online support group; his twin-sister had APL too. Ella died after three years. He understands Hayley as well as I do, maybe more." House pressed the button, not looking at Cameron as he told her,

"Not possible."

* * *

Thirty minutes later and Hayley was sat cross legged, facing Jake who was sat on the floor on the other side. Their seating arrangement had made Cameron laugh when she saw them, but given that Hayley was in a clean room, only medical personnel were allowed direct contact. Hayley had squealed with pleasure when she saw Jake coming down the corridor with Chase alongside him; the pair of them laden with goods. They had been talking through the glass ever since.

Jake had been outraged when he found out what had landed Hayley in hospital in the first place; not with her but with his room-mate. Hayley had protested that it was her decision but Jake was firm – swearing that as soon as he got back to New York he was kicking Brandon out of the apartment.

"How did you know I was here anyway?" Hayley asked through the glass wall, suddenly realising that she hadn't given a thought to this, or the knapsack and box that he had brought with him. The flowers, before bright and alert, were resting droopily in a plastic water jug beside Jake.

"You weren't answering your cell, and none of my emails were getting through so I called the apartment and your mom told me what happened, and where you were. She asked me to give you this…" he gestured to the knapsack. "I think it's clothes. And the stuff in the box I _know_ you want." He tipped the box up a little so Hayley could see inside, and she craned her neck to get a better look.

"Oh that's so sweet!" she exclaimed, a wide grin on her face. Inside the box were several boxes of chocolates, a small teddy bear and dozens of pastel coloured envelopes.

"The cards are mostly from your friends and people in your building, chocolates from Walter and Charles and the bear's from me. Though I guess you can't have them in there, right?"

"A bubble's a bubble, baby." Hayley joked, trying not to let the tears that were rising rushing to her eyes spill over. Jake noticed, and scooted a half-inch closer on the floor.

"You, my beautiful, intelligent, wonderful girl, are going to be just fine." He told her, pressing a finger firmly on the glass. "I promise." Hayley smiled as a tear fell gradually down her cheek.

"Thank you for visiting me." She said in a small voice; if Jake weren't so close he wouldn't have been able to hear her. "I'm sorry you had to find out from my mother."

"Make it up to me when you're better." Jake suggested with a grin, but Hayley's face fell and tears slid faster down her cheeks.

"I'm moving to New Jersey." She whimpered, her voice clouded by tears. Jake looked stunned.

"What?"

"My mom's signed over guardianship; she doesn't want me anymore. Once I'm discharged I'm leaving New York and moving in with Allie. Permanently." Hayley felt the enormity of the situation weighing on her again; the day before her only thought was that she had been abandoned by the one person supposed to truly love her; she hadn't paid any attention to what it really meant. She would be leaving behind everything, her whole life; her friends and her job and her school…and Jake. It felt like whole minutes passed, though in reality it was only seconds before Jake said-

"It's ok." Hayley blinked rapidly; that statement wasn't what she had been expecting.

"How is it ok? I'll be living in a whole different _state_!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"It'll be ok because I love you. I can come visit you here and you can come to New York and we can call and email all the time. I'll even write you since you're so hot on that."

"Promise?" Hayley asked; her voice small and her eyelashes spiked with tears.

"You're moving to New Jersey, not the Black Hole of Calcutta. We'll be just fine. _I promise_."

* * *

While Hayley and Jake were talking, House and his employees were in the conference room. Foreman had been excuse from clinic duty to discuss the decreased neutrophil count from Hayley's lab work.

"We're not getting anywhere." Foreman complained. Sitting on the table in front of him was a three-inch thick medical encyclopaedia. So far they were on the C's, and the list was stretching ominously in front of them.

Cameron sipped her coffee; she felt strangely relaxed sat throwing diagnoses around the conference room. It was an almost foreign feeling, in the recent days the times when she had felt truly able to breathe were few and far between. Now, knowing Hayley was with Jake she was reassured and able to sit and loosen up; which was odd really considering the patient they couldn't diagnose was her sister.

She shook her head, trying to focus and rejoining the conversation in time to see House throw a pen at Chase's head. She had no idea what Chase had suggested, but it was quite amusing to see the pen flying across the room. Foreman cleared his throat.

"Can we please _try_ and get back to the differential?" he asked, rolling his eyes as Chase rubbed his forehead. Cameron felt sure she saw House smirk, and suddenly he reached across the table and grabbed the textbook from in front of Foreman. He flipped through the pages rapidly before slapping his hand triumphantly on the page. He slid the book around and gestured for Cameron to read the page. She scanned it over and raised an eyebrow;

"Febrile seizures?" House scoffed and pointed to the opposite page.

"Felty's Syndrome." Cameron felt as if a light bulb had suddenly gone on in her head.

"It fits," she replied. "Unintentional weight loss; joint pain; fatigue; general malaise…and the low neutrophil count is classic of Felty's."

"Foreman, get an MRI. Focus on the liver and the spleen. Chase, you can take over in the clinic." Foreman and Chase hurriedly left the room and Cameron stared at House.

"What am I supposed to do?" she said, with a hint of annoyance gracing her voice. House shrugged his shoulders.

"My mail's waiting…"

* * *

Wow. Chapter 12...and I am _so_ not bored of writing this story. If anything I am trying to limit how much time I spend writing because I'm supposed to be doing a thousand-and-one other things which are much less fun and rewarding. 

Anyway, please please review because it makes this so worthwhile. Thank you muchly:D


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the original chapter 13; this is me being obsessive and reposting. So if it looks familiar; that's why.

* * *

"From a bubble to a cage, this is _so_ much better." Hayley complained from inside the MRI scanner. In the control room, Cameron grinned. House reached over to press the intercom.

"Be quiet." He commanded, and he saw Cameron's shoulders shake with silent laughter as, via the TV link, they saw Hayley roll her eyes and stick out her tongue. "I saw that." House told her, and then struggled not to smile when on the TV link House saw Hayley's forehead wrinkle in confusion. He leaned towards Cameron and took the intercom.

"Video link, you idiot." He commented and the computer screen bleeped as Hayley creased in laughter. "Stop moving. And be quiet."

"I can't do both. I hate these things." She went quiet as the scanner began clunking loudly. Cameron reached in front of House to take the intercom microphone.

"Hayley, you have to stop moving." She said, holding her thumb on the button.

"The longer you keep moving the longer you're in there." House pointed out. Cameron released the button and glared at him.

"The last time she had an MRI she had septicaemia and Michelle was dying; is it any wonder she isn't exactly a fan. Lighten up."

"Says the queen of candyfloss and ribbons." Cameron turned her head slightly to look at House, but he was staring back at the scanner screen. A clear image was suddenly coming through; Hayley had stopped moving.

"That's good Hayley; it shouldn't be too much longer."

"Talk to me?" came the reply, House glanced to the TV screen; Hayley was wide-eyed and her cheeks were flushed. He turned back to the computer screen and suddenly nudged Cameron sharply in the ribs. She yelped and looked at him, annoyed.

"What?" she asked, and House pointed at the screen. Her jaw dropped.

"HELLO ?" Hayley yelled and Cameron instantly pressed her finger back on the button.

"Sorry, I'm here." She reassured

"Are you nearly done?" Hayley asked and Cameron gave a fleeting towards House, not sure of what she was supposed to say. House leaned over and took the intercom mike from in front of her.

"Yeah, we're nearly done." He said.

* * *

"You have Felty's Syndrome." House announced, parading into the clean room.

"Do I now?" Hayley asked, barely looking up. House limped over to see what she was doing, and he almost moaned when he realised that her arms and legs were covered in black scribbles. Leaning closer still he recognised them as dozens rhyming couplets, mostly from sonnets by Shakespeare.

"Who gave you a pen?" he asked, forgetting his brilliant diagnosis for a moment and contemplating just how he was going to make sure that Cameron didn't see the poetry book that was her sister.

"No-one. I snuck it out of Chase's pocket while he was whining about the Chinese Burn." Hayley replied, dotting several 'i's. She glanced up at him just in time to see the impressed look on his face. Or maybe he was imagining the reed-skinny girl bringing tears to a grown-man's eyes. She smirked and he plucked the pen out of her fingers.

"Hey!" she objected and he rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, once you're out of here you won't care that I stole your pen." He twirled it through his own fingers.

"I'm getting out of the bubble?" Hayley asked, realising with excitement just what House meant.

"Patience, grasshopper." House remarked, and Hayley snatched the pen back.

"Am I getting out or not?"

"Yes." House managed to say before Hayley threw her arms around his neck. "Get off me." He protested and Hayley sat back, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking at him expectantly. "As if I needed more proof of how alike you and your sister are." He grumbled, and Hayley grinned.

"So what's this Felby's thing?"

"_Felty's. _It's called Felty's Syndrome. Honestly, we don't know much about it-"

"So how do you know I have it?" Hayley interrupted and House sighed.

"Because _all_ of your symptoms fit it – joint pain similar to rheumatoid arthritis, fatigue and weight loss. Your MRI showed a massively enlarged spleen, and an enlarged liver which is how we know that it's Felty's." House paused; Hayley's smile had gotten wider whilst he was talking. "What?"

"Felty's can cause weight loss?"

"And a loss of appetite." He answered, at first not realising what Hayley meant.

"I told them I wasn't anorexic." Hayley muttered, angrily.

"Yeah, yeah you can write an angry note to the clinic _after_ your surgery."

"_Excuse me?_" Hayley paled at the thought.

"Some Felty's patients can manage on immuno-suppressants and do fine, but in your case a splenectomy is the best option. It'll improve your white count, which will stop you getting so many infections."

"And Allie signed off on this?" Hayley asked warily.

"Of course. It's the best option." House replied and Hayley scoffed.

"I liked the sound of the pills." She joked and House tried not to laugh.

* * *

"She looks so young." Cameron said. She and House were standing in the observation area of OR3, watching as the surgeons operated on Hayley. He had appeared about fifteen minutes into the surgery and just stood next to her, not saying anything but his presence had been strangely reassuring.

"She'll be fine." he stated, continuing to stare down at the collection of surgeons and nurses below them.

"You're really sure that this is the best option?" she asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"Well it's a bit late now, isn't it?" he remarked. Cameron looked sharply at him, her expression a mixture of annoyance and desperation. He relented slightly. "Would I really have let you sign off if it wasn't the best thing for her?" House replied and Cameron crossed her arms, staring resolutely through the glass at her sister and the team of surgeons and nurses.

"You've been known to allow relatives to sign off on dangerous procedures before. How do you know that this time everything will be ok?" she questioned and House was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Because I just do." He said finally, adding silently; "_because I promised she would be_."

* * *

"You're wearing my shirt." Hayley groaned; opening her eyes drowsily and seeing Cameron curled half-asleep in a chair and wearing a pale pink t-shirt with the word "miaow" written on it. Cameron jumped at the sound of Hayley's croaky voice. "And it looks ridiculous on you." Hayley continued and Cameron smiled, shaking her head at her baby sister's absurd choice of conversation topic. She uncurled herself and approached the bed, stroking Hayley's hair away from her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, and Hayley stuck out her tongue.

"Great! Morphine is apparently my new best friend." She coughed slightly to clear her throat.

"The ventilator you were on for the surgery probably messed with your vocal cords. You'll be a bit scratchy for a while." Cameron assured her, moving aside slightly to pour a glass of water into a beaker. She popped a straw in and held it to her sister's mouth. Hayley raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not completely useless." She protested and then winced. "OK, maybe I am. It kind of hurts, a little bit." She coughed again, and snatched her hand to her side. "More than a little bit."

"You aren't on a high dosage of pain relief right now but I can have it increased if it still once you're properly awake." Cameron slid the safety rail down and half-sat on the bed beside Hayley. "Other than the pain, how do you feel?"

"Sleepy and my throat's a bit sore. But I'm ok. You look tired."

"Your surgery went really well, and you should be able to come home in a few days." Cameron replied, ignoring Hayley's concerned expression.

"Are you ok?" Hayley asked and Cameron smiled ruefully. "That's a no." Hayley remarked. "I'm sorry you had to do all this again." She said quietly. Cameron shook her head, confused. "It's not exactly easy on you, watching me be sick all the time."

"Hayley, don't." Cameron protested and her sister struggled to sit up. "You just had surgery, lie down."

"Then listen to me when I try to tell you that I love you." Hayley groaned, resting back on the pillows.

"I know; you don't have to tell me." Cameron answered, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yes I do. We've been through so much with Michelle, and then with Mom and Dad. And now…" Hayley's voice caught slightly as tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. Cameron felt a tear slide down her own cheek and brushed it away. "Now…you do so much for me and you're always there and I never tell you how much it means. You're all I have and I don't tell you."

"I love you too."

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Please don't feel like you have to review if you already did, but as always I love love love them. Very muchly and I do try and reply to all reviews that I get. 

Thanks in advance!!! Sarah :D


	14. Chapter 14

"How's she doing?" House asked, hobbling into the hospital room as quietly as he could manage. Cameron was seated in an armchair beside Hayley's bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. Hayley was asleep, her arm resting protectively over her abdomen. House cast an expert eye over all the machines she was connected to, and was pleased to see that everything looked normal.

"Her temp spiked a few hours ago but it went back down on its own. And she asked for a decreased dose of morphine; it was making her find stupid things amusing and she shouldn't really laugh for a few more days in case she tears her stitches." House nodded; he already knew about the increased temperature and the lower dose of morphine thanks to regular phone calls to the on-duty nurse. But he had rightly assumed that seeing as how it was almost midnight Hayley would be asleep, and Cameron would be absolutely exhausted.

"You should go home." He told her and was surprised when she didn't even try to protest; instead she simply uncurled her legs and stood up, leaning over and kissing Hayley on the forehead.

"You'll stay until I get in tomorrow?" she asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms trying to keep warm. House shrugged and stepped around her, taking her seat and stretching his legs out in front of him. Cameron turned around and looked from her sister; sleeping soundly, and House; who began drumming a rhythm on the floor with his cane. She smiled and him then turned and walked out of the room, heading for the conference room to pick up her things.

* * *

She got home around 40 minutes later and was greeted by a flashing light on the answer phone. Pressing her index finger lightly on the 'play' button she winced as House's voice filled the room.

"She's fine...sleeping…temp's at 98.3. We'll see you in the morning." There were no pleasantries as he rang off and Cameron stood absently for a few moments, staring at the phone in her hand. He had said 'we'. _"We'll see you in the morning."_ She shook her head as she replaced the handset, and toed off her shoes. She padded down the hallway, dropping her bag on the couch and shrugging her jacket off her shoulders. He could have meant it really; it was just an expression. She meandered around her apartment, wanting to go to bed but knowing that she was beyond exhausted, and would no doubt lie awake for hours over-thinking. Coffee was out; she'd been awake for almost thirty-six hours and had the beginnings of a thumping headache. Herbal tea wouldn't be too bad, she considered and she made her way through into the kitchen, wincing as the cupboard doors creaked loudly in the otherwise silent apartment.

* * *

House shifted his leg a few inches left, trying to get comfy. Hayley of course was sleeping like a baby, curled slightly onto her side with her hand fisted against her chest. He was glad Cameron was willing to leave Hayley in his care, but trying to get comfortable on hospital chairs was pretty much an impossible task for anyone, but for a guy with a bad leg…well, he had no chance of getting any sleep. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair, a repetitive non-melody; anything to try and take his mind off the increasing ache in his thigh.

"Stop it." Hayley mumbled quietly, and House's fingers stilled at the unexpected sound of her voice. He looked at her, struggling to make out her face in the darkness but just able to see that her eyes were closed. He smiled in spite of himself, assuming that she was talking in her sleep, and wondering if that was another trait she shared with her sister. His fingers resumed their rhythm on the armrest and Hayley opened her eyes, groaning;

"I said stop it." House obeyed, then reached over and flicked on the lamp, and Hayley winced at the sudden light flooding the room. "Where's Allie?" she asked.

"I sent her home." House replied and Hayley nodded slightly, rolling gingerly onto her side and shuffling down underneath the covers. "Does your leg hurt?" she asked House, noting how he was sitting with his bad leg stretched far out in front of him. House shrugged.

"My leg always hurts."

"Even when you take your pills?"

"The pills help." House replied gruffly, uncomfortable with the way Hayley was looking at him; a mix of scepticism and sympathy. It was strange how even in that even when she was half-asleep she could still pull off a look identical to that of her big sister.

"I just had surgery and I'm not in pain." Hayley announced and House shook his head slightly, trying not to smirk.

"Morphine." He told her and she scrunched up her forehead in confusion.

"I don't really like morphine. It made me feel drunk."

"How do you know what it feels like to be drunk?" House asked, momentarily forgetting that he was talking to the girl who took cocaine 'cos she wanted to do something illegal'. Hayley raised an eyebrow, but was silent for a few moments. House shifted in his chair, massaging his bad thigh. Hayley twisted the edge of her hospital blanket between her fingers.

"You like my sister." She told him, and his eyes flickered up to meet hers.

"Says who?" he retorted and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Nobody. Everybody. Anyone with eyes at least."

"Riight." House drawled.

"Don't be rude." The teenager scolded and House smirked. "You _do_ like her."

"She's my employee." House stated, not denying Hayley's accusation.

"You took her on a date..." Hayley pestered, and was interrupted by House saying;

"…to get her to come back to work." Hayley scoffed.

"I didn't mean disaster-dinner-for-two, I meant the monster trucks."

"That wasn't a date. I had a spare ticket."

"So why ask Allie? Why didn't you go alone; you seem to love your own company enough and no-one _made_ you invite her."

"You're a very irritating child, did you know that?" House muttered brusquely and Hayley stifled a giggle, wincing as her she pulled her stitches. House moved forward slightly to check she was ok, but she swatted him away.

"I'm fine. And I've been told about the irritating child thing. Except it was a lot less polite..." Her voice tailed off and House inclined his head slightly.

"Your mom?"

"I believe the words 'self-centred, worthless, bitch' were in there somewhere."

"Ouch."

"Don't change the subject." She said sternly, realising he had tried to do just that. "I think you should ask her out."

"I already did." House begrudged.

"I know."

"And she turned me down."

"It was your first day back after being _shot_, you were walking without your cane and you were acting like you were…I don't know…happy or something. She wasn't sure you were even serious. But she wanted to say yes."

"Oh really?" House asked, sarcasm in his voice.

"Duh."

"Sorry, I forgot she told you every tiny detail of her life." House half-joked, but his words were lost underneath the sound of Hayley yawning. She wriggled further down the bed and tugged the blankets up around her shoulders.

"I'm tired. Just admit that you like her so I can go back to sleep." House pursed his lips childishly, then reached over and flicked off the lamp.

"Well that's mature." Hayley remarked through the darkness, but a few minutes later he heard the gentle sounds of her breathing as she fell asleep. He checked his watch, straining to see the clock face in the dark. Ten minutes to four. He shifted in the chair and trying to get comfortable again. His leg ached, and he fumbled in his jacket pocket for his Vicodin. Popping two of the pills he listened to the restful silence in the room. He propped his elbow on the armrest and leaned his head on his hand, thinking about what Hayley had said. And he was slightly disconcerted to realise that she was right…he _did_ like Cameron.

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Did you love? Did you hate? Please review:D 


	15. Chapter 15

"Did you get any sleep?" House asked and Cameron looked at him, perplexed at the conversational tone in his voice.

"A few hours." She answered, stirring two mugs of coffee and then handing him one. "You?"

"Same." House lied, and Cameron nodded…recognising the untruth but grateful to him for allowing her the chance to go home and sleep in an actual bed. She had been oddly relaxed and found herself not worrying about Hayley very much at all; not panicking about her being able to wander off and not terrified to go to sleep in case she woke up to an answer machine message like she'd received from her mother just a few days before. She started shaking every time she thought about it; just a few cold and cruel words – "Hayley's in the hospital. New York Presbyterian. You should come." No details, no fear or anxiety in her voice just the cold hard facts.

"Was she really ok?" Cameron asked, trying to shake the thoughts of the phone call out of her head. House had called her apartment around seven thirty, to tell her that Hayley was still fine and that she didn't need to get into the hospital until later if she didn't want to. Of course, Cameron being Cameron, she had showered, eaten breakfast and driven to the hospital in record time; he had made his way back to his office and found her sorting his mail, just like old times. Foreman and Chase weren't expected until at least nine thirty, seeing as Hayley was the diagnostic teams' only patient, so she had entered the conference room to find House wandering around aimlessly.

"She woke up around three thirty, sleeping again by four."

"You should have called me! I would have come back." Cameron protested, and House shook his head.

"I know you would, that's why I didn't. She was fine…she just wanted to talk." He told the younger doctor, realising too late what he had let himself in for. Predictably, Cameron cocked her head to one side, asking;

"What about?" She sipped her coffee as House wracked his brains trying to find a response that wouldn't dig him further into a hole. He couldn't…so he sipped his coffee and tried to ignore the curious look on Cameron's face. They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes before the office phone began ringing. House reached over and lifted the handset.

"House." He said, and listened for a few moments before holding the handset out to Cameron.

"_Who is it?_" She mouthed at him, trying to figure out who would call her at work this early in the morning. House rolled his eyes, asking into the phone,

"Who's calling?" He listened again and then, barely managing to resist the urge to slam the phone down, held the handset out; motioning for her to take it. She moved forwards with a look of perfect confusion on her face, and cautiously held out her hand, her fingers gently brushing with his as she took the phone.

"Dr. Cameron speaking." She said, and as soon as she heard the reply the colour drained from her face. Cameron turned her back on House, staring out the window as she absent-mindedly began to nibble on her thumbnail.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily into the phone, then listened as the caller replied. House wandered across the conference room and deposited his now empty mug in the sink, all the while eavesdropping on the conversation.

"I haven't yet…well, I didn't know if you wanted-…yeah, if you'd rather I did it then I will. Are you ok with that?" Cameron flexed the fingers of her free hand, and grimaced at House as he walked past her into his office. He wondered if she knew that her hand was shaking. Probably not, he figured as he sat at his desk and admired the three neat piles of mail that were waiting for him; one pile of what he thought was trash (letters from prospective patients), one pile of what _she_ thought was trash (his music magazines) and one pile of what they had both deemed to be important. She didn't dare throw any of his mail away; she just wrote short, sweet and simple replies to anyone who had the misfortune to end up in the 'House thinks trash' pile.

In the conference room, Cameron set the handset down on its cradle and took several deep breaths; trying to quell the rising need to scream or throw something at the wall. Instead she clenched her fists a few times, and glanced at the wall-clock, then sighed and stalked into House's office. He had heard her end the call and busied himself with a medical journal, then raised his eyes over the top of it as she stormed around, not saying anything but everything about her body language screamed hissy fit. He lowered the magazine and she turned to stand squarely facing him with clenched fists and her shoulders heaving with the effort of not exploding with anger.

"How's your mom?" he asked quietly, his voice laden with disdain and Cameron looked at him, her head cocked on one side. For one horrible moment he was terrified he'd gone too far but then he saw the telltale twitches at the corner of her mouth and seconds later she had dissolved into giggles. He allowed himself to smile, and slid his seat backwards, gesturing for her to come and sit on the edge of his desk. Still chuckling she complied, and settled herself half-sitting, half-leaning at the edge of his desk.

"She wanted to know if I called my dad yet. I told her I didn't know I was supposed to, but I guess it's something that should be done." Cameron sighed once her laughter had dissolved.

"You don't get on with your dad?" House ventured and was met with a shrug

"We get on fine, but he's been kind of…absent for the past eight years. My mom kicked him out about eighteen months after Michelle died; she got angry with everyone and he dove into a bottle. Hayley spends a week with him every summer.

"What about you?"

"We have dinner sometimes if he's in New York for a conference; it's harder to fit vacations around both our schedules. After the divorce he quit his job and moved his practise out to Rhode Island so it really is a vacation if I want to see him. Plus, he married his secretary about seven years ago, and now Hayley and I have two half-brothers, a step-brother and a step-sister."

"Oh." House said, mentally kicking himself for not saying something, anything better that that one stupid syllable. Cameron smiled.

"Hayley adores them; she never got to be the big sister. And Andrea; that's my dad's wife, she's not bad as stepmothers go."

"How old is she?"

"Forty-nine. This is her second marriage; her son Matt's older than me; married with a kid and we're pretty tight, but Ella's a major brat and can't stand Hayley. She's in college." Cameron suddenly jumped up, and House pushed his chair further back in alarm.

"What?" he asked as she rummaged him her pocket for her pager. Pulling it out she glanced at the screen, and then laughed. "What?" he asked again. She showed him the page, and he had to laugh at what he read;

"MORBIDLY BORED AND STARVING. WAFFLES ARE THE ONLY CURE. HAYLEY." House stood next to her, leaning heavily on his cane. He had taken some pills earlier, but spending the night in a chair hadn't allowed them to have much effect. Cameron noticed him falter slightly and reached out a hand, holding his arm to steady him. He contemplated pushing her way, but the feeling was weirdly comfortable; like her touching him was something that happened a thousand times a day.

"Cameron…" he began, at the same time as she said,

"House…" She whipped her hand away from him and they both smiled self-consciously.

"You go." He offered, and she lowered her eyes as a blush crept over her cheeks.

"I was just…thank you for everything. Treating Hayley, and letting me cry on your shoulder…and bawling out my mom in the elevator." House smirked at the memory of Penny Cameron practically cowering in the elevator as he told her exactly what he thought of her. He looked back at Cameron and noticed an almost identical smirk on her face.

"She told you about that?" he asked, and Cameron nodded; still smiling.

"Just now, on the phone. But the point is, I don't think I could have handled all of this if I didn't…" she paused, stopping herself just before she said something that could embarrass her.

"If you didn't what?" House persisted, moving forward an imperceptible half-step and silently willing her to say what he thought she had been about to.

"If I didn't have you." She muttered quietly, blushing furiously but with her eyes trained hard on his face. House had to remind himself to breathe as she matched his half-step forward; they were so close he could practically read her thoughts.

"What were you going to say?" she asked softly, moving closer still.

"Nothing," he lied and she raised an eyebrow; tilting her head to one side, contemplating.

"Liar." She accused with a smile and House smirked; inwardly groaning at his inability to handle this situation with anything remotely close to his usual ease. He tried to think of something, anything to say that wouldn't end up destroying this for them…but being in such close proximity to her was almost unsettling.

'Get a grip.' He told himself, trying not to focus on the tiny freckle that was peeking out from the neckline of Cameron's shirt; trying to focus on anything _but_ her.

"Stop thinking." She told him gently, taking the final step forward and pressing her lips against his, gentle yet determined – the two words he would use to describe Cameron's whole personality. He reached behind her, splaying his fingers on the small of her back and pulling her lightly towards him, and relaxing into the kiss.

'I'm kissing House,' Cameron screamed inside her head, as his hand snaked up her back and into her hair. 'He's a good kisser,' she thought, feeling herself practically melt into him and then he was gone; stepping away from her and looking almost ashamed of himself.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, horrified that she had gone too far; he hadn't really been kissing her back. He shook his head, amused at the anxiety in her voice and reaching into his jacket pocket for his pager. He read the screen and smiled, holding out the little black object for her to take. She laughed quietly; silently cursing her sister as she read the message; "I'M STARVING AND BORED; JOIN ME FOR BREAKFAST? PLEASE BRING WAFFLES OR I'LL TELL ALLIE YOU LIKE HER."

House stepped forward, closing the gap between himself and Cameron again. She smiled up at him; so shy and self-conscious that he almost forgot it was her who initiated the kiss.

"Does this mean I don't have to take her waffles?" he joked, leaning in and kissing her again. Her stomach twirled as House brushed his thumb across her cheek; two kisses and it felt as if they had been doing this forever. She pulled away slightly;

"I…like…waffles...too" She told him, punctuating her words with kisses. "And Hayley isn't the only one who's starving."

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Oops, noticed a few errors in the first posting of this so the above version is hopefully correct. Chapter 16 is underway as I am typing this, so stay tuned! Sarah xo 


	16. Chapter 16

I am unbelievably happy to have so many fantastic reviews...so much so that I haven't even been home for a full day and I already have a new update. Some would call me sad, some would call me dedicated. I don't know what I am, but I do know that if it weren't for people writing such brilliant reviews this story would have died chapters and chapters ago. So thanks to everyone who has kept this going, and enjoy chapter 16!!!

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"Took you long enough." Hayley grinned as Cameron entered the room, balancing a tray laden with two plates of waffles, plastic cutlery and a small bottle of orange juice. Hayley was sat cross-legged on the bed; a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms underneath her regulation hospital gown and was absently twisting the hem of the gown around her fingers.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Cameron joked, setting the tray carefully at the end of the bed. She passed a plate over to her sister, whose eyes were sparkling at the sight of real food. She also passed her the bottle of orange juice, and smiled when Hayley made a face. "I know, I know, you don't like orange juice but you need the Vitamin C. So drink it and don't make faces." Hayley poked her tongue out childishly, but unscrewed the cap and lifted the bottle to her lips. Cameron took her own plate of waffles, breathing in the warm, comforting smell of hot food and allowing her mind to drift easily through the events of the morning. She smiled slightly and Hayley snapped her fingers in front of Cameron's face.

"What?" Cameron asked and Hayley wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"What's different? You haven't changed your hair, your clothes are yours, not mine, and thank God…I can't believe you wore that shirt yesterday. I haven't worn it since I was fourteen; I'm amazed it fit you. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Cameron answered through a mouthful of food. "Eat your waffles; I didn't sneak them in here to sit on the bed getting cold."

"Tell me and I'll eat them." Hayley bargained with a smirk. Cameron leaned over and cut a section of waffle with Hayley's fork; spearing it and holding it up for the younger girl to take.

"Eat and maybe I'll tell you." She retorted and Hayley grinned, accepting the fork and biting the waffles.

"I thought you said the food in this hospital was crap? These are delicious." She mumbled and Cameron rolled her eyes.

"They aren't from the cafeteria. There's a little place down the street; best waffles I've ever tasted."

"Which explains why you took so long."

"Exactly." The two sisters ate the rest of their breakfast in comfortable silence, interrupted only when a nurse came to give Hayley her morning dose of painkillers. She had narrowed her eyes at the sight of a post-op patient eating breakfast; but Cameron had arched her eyebrow so high that the nurse was too alarmed to do anything about it. The entire nursing staff had heard of Cameron's outburst when the blonde nurse had allowed Hayley to wander off, and though none of them would have thought it of the quiet, compassionate Doctor Cameron they didn't want to risk doing anything that might put them on the receiving end of any sharp words, or worse; disciplinary action. Dannie, the blonde nurse, had received a three day suspension for her neglect of a patient.

"Mom called me this morning." Cameron stated quietly, studying Hayley's response. To an 'untrained' eye, Hayley made no reaction, but to Cameron; the tiny flicker of her eyelids and the way in which Hayley unconsciously scratched the skin around her thumb spoke volumes.

"Lucky you." She mumbled, staring out of the window.

"She wanted me to call Dad." Hayley turned her head quickly to stare at her sister.

"And?" she asked. "Are you going to? What are you going to say? Will you tell him about…?" Hayley's voice trailed off and she held her thumb to her mouth, flinching at the taste of blood.

"I already did; he, Andrea and the boys are getting the next plane out here." Cameron reported, and the smile which had so rapidly disappeared from Hayley's face at the mere mention of her mother swiftly reappeared.

"All of them? They're all coming out here?" Cameron nodded.

"I called while Hou…I mean, before I went to get breakfast and they should be here by this evening. They'll stay in a hotel and come visit as soon as possible; the boys too. And I told them about everything that's happened, and Dad's pretty mad," Hayley's face fell and Cameron was quick to comfort. "-not with you, with Mom. He said he'd call her before they got the flight and then go visit and try and sort it all out. It's gonna be ok."

"I don't want him to 'sort it out'." Hayley said fiercely. "I don't want anything to do with her. She clearly feels exactly the same way about me, so what's the point in trying to 'sort' anything? I'm not going back there. I won't." Cameron nodded, and shrugged.

"I don't blame you. And your room at my place is exactly how you left it. When Dad and everyone get here I'll drive up and get your stuff, bring it home." There was a small silence as both sisters realised the enormity of what they were doing.

"Allie?" Hayley asked her voice so playful that Cameron was momentarily confused.

"What?" she replied, cautious of the familiar twinkle in her little sister's eyes.

"Did you send House to get the waffles?"

* * *

"So I'll see you in a few minutes then?" Cameron said into the phone, before swatting House's hand away from her cup of coffee. "Sorry, what? …no that's fine; I can meet you in the lobby. Just have a nurse at the desk call me. Yeah…I can't wait to see you either. Bye." Cameron replaced the handset of the phone and narrowed her eyes at House. "They're leaving now. I should probably…I don't know, do something. Hey, that's mine!" she said as House swiped away her coffee mug and took a hurried sip. He rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm doing us both a favour; you don't want to be strung out on caffeine when you go meet your family, and I…well, I like coffee."

"They aren't my family." Cameron responded quickly; a knee-jerk response. House raised an eyebrow and she shrugged defensively. "Well technically they are, of course, but I have two half-brothers who I've seen enough times to count on one hand and…oh I don't know. It's so much easier when he's in Rhode Island." She sighed and then shifted off the desk which she had been leaning against, running a weary hand through her hair. She had begun the morning with it pinned back, but as the day went on she had allowed strands to come loose until Hayley, irritated by Cameron's constant flicking of her hair out of her eyes, had reached over and unceremoniously removed the hair clip which kept the remaining locks in place.

House set the coffee mug down on the desk and took in the sight before him. Cameron turned her head to look at him. Neither of them had breached the subject of the kiss…or kisses…earlier that morning, and she wasn't really in the best frame of mind to discuss it right that moment. The silence in the room was clear, but neither of them seemed to mind as they each watched the other one. The ringing of the phone interrupted the stillness and Cameron grabbed for it, fully aware of House's eyes trained on her. She listened for a few seconds then said;

"I'll be right down." before replacing the phone. "Apparently their hotel is closer than they realised." She muttered, not sure if she was speaking to herself or to House. She started across the conference room, but House; who had been resting against the table, reached out and stopped her.

"House." She whispered, feeling his fingers grip her upper arm. He didn't say anything, just stood somewhat awkwardly and looked at her. "House, I have to go. My family's waiting." She protested weakly, and a tiny smile toyed on his lips.

"I thought they weren't your family?" he said gently and she giggled softly. It was good to see her happy, and House took the opportunity to duck down, kissing her unhesitatingly. She felt him loosen his grip on her arm and slide his hand down to her waist, pulling her closer towards him. She reciprocated by bringing her own hand up to his shoulder, resting lightly.

The sound of a surreptitious cough separated them with a jolt, and they turned in unison to find a middle-aged man, and a slightly younger woman standing in the doorway with two little boys stood at their feet. The man had a thunderous look on his face, while the woman looked bemused, and the two little boys rushed into the office with an energy that could only be possessed by children younger than six.

"Hi Dad," Cameron began, unsure of how to continue. "Uh, Dad…this is Dr. House, he's um…I mean, well the thing is…" she turned to House helpfully and he stepped forward, reaching out his hand to shake Mr. Cameron's.

"I'm Allison's boss, and I've been treating Hayley." Mr. Cameron slowly shook House's hand, his eyes on his daughter. Andrea, Cameron's stepmother smiled and called her sons to her.

"The nurse at the desk sent us up. It's good to see you Allie." She said warmly, referring to Cameron with the nickname Hayley always used. Mr. Cameron stepped forward and hugged his daughter, shooting a daggered look over her shoulder at the man whom he had found her kissing.

"I wanna see Hayley." One of the little boys, a blond child of about three years old, whined, and Andrea hushed him. Cameron however, still blushing at the embarrassment of being caught kissing her boss, bent down to the little boy.

"And Hayley can't wait to see you, Sam." She reached out and pulled him up, settling him easily on her hip. With a fervent look at her father she took the other little boy's hand, and led the way silently through the doorway and down the corridor towards Hayley's room.

* * *

House leaned back heavily in his chair. He didn't want to leave the office until he saw Cameron leave, and even though her family had been in the hospital for almost four hours…it was undoubtedly past the little boys' bedtimes…not a soul had left the hospital room for sixty minutes. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them hurriedly when he heard familiar footsteps running quickly down the corridor. Cameron entered his office with a crash; shoving the door open so hard it banged against the glass wall that divided the office from the conference room and threatened to shatter it.

He wasn't concerned with this however, as soon as he realised that tears were streaming down her face; an image he had seen all too often over these recent days. In an instant he was by her, arms wrapped around her as her small hands clutched at whatever she could grasp of his shirt. Quickly ascertaining that nothing was wrong with Hayley, he manoeuvred her towards the couch and held her as she sobbed against him, muttering incoherently. Only the entrance of her father in the conference room brought her to her senses. She was on her feet in seconds, inadvertently jarring House's thigh in her haste. Her whole body screamed anger, and her hands shook as she resisted her father's attempts to comfort her.

"Don't you touch me. Don't you dare even try to be a father now!" she yelled at him, but Mr. Cameron stood his ground, watching her with an obstinate and hurt look on his face.

"Allie, please. This is the best option, for her and for you." He tried to protest and House struggled to his feet just in time to stop Cameron launching herself violently at her father.

"How dare you even pretend that you know the best thing for her? Get out. Get out, right now." House could feel Cameron's heart pounding against his restraining arm, as she seethed with fury.

"Allie…" Mr. Cameron tried for a final time.

"I said _GET OUT_!!" Cameron shrieked at him and her father held his arms up in a gesture of defeat. He backed slowly out of the room, bumping into his wife who was holding their sleeping youngest son in her arms and had the second child clinging to her leg. He took the older boys hand and with a backward glance at Cameron, now sobbing breathlessly in House's arms, walked down the corridor towards the elevators.

"Shh," House soothed, returning Cameron to the couch and allowing her to rest heavily against him as gradually her breathing returned to normal and her sobs decreased to hiccoughs.

"I'm making a habit of this." She sniffled against his chest.

"I don't mind." House answered, smoothing her hair lightly.

"He wants to take her back to Rhode Island with him. I can't let him, she trusts me, I can't…I just can't." Cameron whimpered as fresh tears began to flow.

"It's ok," House pacified, promising "We won't let him do anything."

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Aaand...you must know the drill by now. You read, you review, I reply and I get tapping away on the next chapter. It's a viciously excellent cycle...and I love it! Sarah :D 


	17. Chapter 17

I love love love reviews. They are fantastic and I think I want to marry them one day...if that wasn't weird and more than a little impossible. Anyway, chapter 17...

* * *

House gently eased away from Cameron. They were still on the couch in his office; she had clung tightly to him for hours before conceding to sleep; sobbing, at first uncontrollably, and then with a slowly increasing command of herself as she related what had happened.

Hayley had fallen asleep around eight thirty, exhausted by her visitors and suffering delayed effects from the anaesthetic. William, Hayley and Cameron's father, had been reluctant to leave his daughter so had insisted on staying; content to watch her sleep. He had broached the subject of Hayley's guardianship when his wife stepped out of the room with their sons, to get coffee and something for the boys to eat. Cameron wasn't sure if this was because Andrea didn't approve of the idea or because William simply hadn't discussed it with her. Either way, she told House through anxious hiccoughs, the way he spoke was like he had already decided it was going to happen.

* * *

"You work a busy schedule, always in and out of this place. You wouldn't have time to see her, you'd never know if you were going to get called in or be able to plan for things." William had alleged, and Cameron had scoffed. He had looked surprised at this, as if he didn't recognise the person arguing with him. When Cameron spoke she kept her voice a whisper, but it was laden with anger.

"You just described the first eight years of Hayley's life Dad. You and Mom were either working or at the hospital with Michelle."

"That's not fair Allie." He had objected,

"Neither is what you're doing, or what Mom already did. Neither of you were ever around, I always have been and I always will be – unlike with you and Mom, Hayley actually trusts me to be there."

"You're out of line Allison, there are plenty of times-" William began, but had Cameron cut him off sharply with an outraged,

"There are plenty of times when you've _let her down_! You and Mom, both of you would make empty promises; 'of course we'll be at parents' night' or 'we'll be front row centre at the ballet recital'. It was all bull, and the worst thing is she knew it! Who took her to school on her first day? Me. Who noticed whenever she needed new shoes and took her to the mall to buy them? Me. Who was there every single time she was feeling hurt or angry or used? Me. And after Michelle died and Mom was too busy laying blame and you were wallowing in your own grief, who was it that spent five straight nights in the ICU with Hayley, holding her hand and telling her that everything would be alright? I've always been there for her and I'm not going to let you take her away from me so that you can make yourself feel better."

William had sat back in his chair, shocked at the outburst from his oldest daughter; Allison had always been the quiet one; methodical and disciplined, never one to just rush into anything without thinking about consequences. It was Hayley who yelled and kicked up a fuss. He folded his arms across his chest, an act of defiance that was at the same time condescending. It somehow made Cameron feel like she was a little girl again; crying because Michelle was too sick for them to take a vacation when all her friends were taking them.

"Your mother and I did everything we could to ensure that you and Hayley had as normal a childhood as possible, but when Michelle was sick all plans went out of the window, you know that. Maybe I haven't been the best father, maybe I should have tried harder with your mother after Shelly…well, after she left us but I couldn't. And maybe I am trying to make myself feel a little bit better but Hayley coming to live in Rhode Island with me and the boys _is_ the best thing for her. Eventually you'll see that."

"I won't." Cameron had replied, her voice trembling with anger; not just anger at her father but at her mother too, for being heartless and cruel enough to put her in this position. "Hayley is in _my_ guardianship, mine, and she's not going anywhere."

"Allison…" William had raised his voice and Cameron had stood suddenly, her fists clenched so hard that the fingernails she hadn't already bitten down dug hard into her palms.

"No, _Dad_. No. Hayley is my responsibility and I am not going to be the third person in this family to abandon her. Visiting hours ended at six so I suggest you go find your family and leave the two of us in peace." William had stood too, even in her work-appropriate heels her father was around four inches taller than her. He had reached out and grasped her forearms, looked her in the eye.

"Allie, listen to me. You and I both know that the best thing for Hayley is stability, and you can't offer her that; just look at that…that man you're involved with. Do you really think that he's a good role model for Hayley?" Cameron had tried to shake free of her father's grasp, outraged.

"Dr. House saved Hayley's life. He is an excellent doctor and a good person and….and…"

"Allie, stop. Andrea and I have a good life in Rhode Island, my practise is comfortable, there's a great high-school right nearby and she loves the boys. She'll be better of with us…"

"You are _not_ taking her away from me!" Cameron had finally yelled, incensed. She had wrenched away from her father and bolted out of the room, almost colliding with her stepmother who was balancing her youngest son on her hip, with the other close behind. Cameron hadn't stopped when she heard William's voice calling her from down the corridor and she hadn't realised that she was crying until she found herself in House's office, sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

* * *

House contemplated the now-sleeping figure on the couch. Cameron had tucked her legs up to her chest and her hair was partially covering her face. She looked peaceful, but he noticed goose bumps on her arms. He glanced around the room, trying to find something to cover her with and settled on his jacket, which had been discarded over the back of his office chair. Cameron shrank into the warmth of the makeshift blanket and House noticed her eyelids flutter as she dreamed. He sighed and glanced at his watch, it was a few minutes before Hayley's next dose of painkillers. Flicking off the main light in his office and switching instead to the lamp, which cast a softer glow about the room he made his way painfully down the corridor to Hayley's room.

* * *

"You sent Allie home for the night?" Hayley asked as House entered the room. She had been awake for a few minutes, woken by a slowly increasing pain in her abdomen that she recognised as her painkillers wearing off. House made a non-committal noise which she took for a 'yes' as armed with her next dose, meandered around her bed in the darkness, fumbling with machines and IV bags but not wanting to turn on a light in case Hayley looked closely at his shirt and recognised the remnants of her sister's makeup and tears smudged on it. Hayley flicked the light on anyway, frustrated with his awkwardness administering her morphine when she was in pain. He turned away, cursing himself for choosing the pale blue shirt that morning, instead of a darker one that could hide a multiple of sins.

"What happened to your shirt?" Hayley asked, twisting into a more comfy position. House settled himself into the chair vacated by Cameron a few hours earlier, and shrugged.

"I made a nurse cry, and I felt bad." Hayley gave a small laugh and then winced as the action pulled at her stitches.

"I thought that was my sister's job now?" House smirked; Cameron must have filled Hayley in about her new found reputation with the nursing staff.

"Yeah, they're almost as terrified of her as they are of me." He remarked, fishing in his pants pocket for his Vicodin.

"No-one's really scared of you." The young woman stated with typical teenage certainty.

"Some people are." House objected and Hayley shook her head.

"They only pretend to me. Sure, sometimes your methods of curing patients might freak out your team – you aren't exactly the most orthodox when it comes to treating them but they all know that you're right."

House sat silently in his chair, feeling the Vicodin he had dry-swallowed working their magic and dulling the angry pain in his thigh.

"You know I'm right, I was right about you liking Allie and I'm right about this." Hayley told him, and he nodded absently. "Goodnight Dr. House."

As he listened to the sounds of Hayley's breathing ease into a comfortable sleep he thought about Cameron. He hadn't in all honesty thought about much else for the past twenty-four hours but these thoughts were different. He hated that it had taken so long to discover what was wrong with her sister, but loved that she had trusted him to figure it out. He hated that she was so devastated, but loved the fact that it was always him who she ran to for comfort. He hated her parents for laying all of this on her and leaving her such a wreck, but loved that he was able to put her back together.

He loved her.

* * *

It's a little shorter than the some of the more recent chapters but my finger is bleeding cos I caught my nail and if I keep typing there will be blood all over my keyboard...seriously. BUT...if you're extra good and send me lots of nice reviews I will try and have another update very very soon!!! Sarah xoxo 


	18. Chapter 18

Yay! A new update!!! This is dedicated to everybody who has reviewed Mommy Issues so far!!!

* * *

"House?" Cameron mumbled as she stared around the office. Her legs ached as she swung them off the couch, shrugging off a jacket that had been laid over her. It was dark outside, and the lights in the corridor had been dimmed. A glance at the watch on her wrist told her it was just after seven a.m. She didn't know how she could have slept so long; her back was aching from her position on the couch, and she couldn't think where House was, but when the dim memory of last night came back to her she groaned, anxiety churning in her stomach.

Slowly Cameron got to her feet, and made her way down the corridor towards Hayley's room. She stood at the door, watching; House was slouched in a chair beside Hayley's bed, his bad leg stretched out as far in front of him as possible, while Hayley was curled on her side with her blankets pulled right up to her chin. Cameron contemplated the two figures, listening to their easy conversation, and she smiled.

"I still think you're lying." Hayley laughed, and House shook his head.

"Would I?" he mocked.

"There is no way you ever did that, it's too romantic." Cameron blinked, 'romantic'? What were they talking about?

"Be quiet." House told the young girl, and Cameron couldn't resist a giggle as she saw her sister roll her eyes and poke her tongue out at House. Hearing the noise from behind him House turned in his seat, and shifted in his seat. Cameron walked into the room, sitting on the end of the bed and trying to decide if he was uncomfortable about being caught discussing whatever it was he had been discussing, or whether it was because of his leg. Leaning over to hug her sister she decided that it was because of his leg but when she sat back up, crossing her legs underneath her like a teenager she felt him staring at her. She ran a hand self-consciously through her hair and felt herself blush.

"So what are we gonna do about Dad?" Hayley asked, interrupting the thousand-and-one thoughts flittering around Cameron's head. She turned and looked at her sister, confused. Hayley shrugged. "House told me. I'm _not_ going to Rhode Island."

"Truth is; you may have to." Cameron admitted and Hayley sat up in the bed, bringing her knees up to her chest and folding her arms around them. To her credit, House thought, she barely winced as the action pulled at her stitches.

"I will not." She insisted.

"Hayley…" Cameron sighed. "It's not what I want, you know that, but we may not have a choice."

"I don't care." Hayley stated adamantly. "I am _not_ moving to Rhode Island."

"Ahem." House cleared his throat ostentatiously, and the two sisters looked at him. They had almost forgotten he was there; Hayley more than Cameron. He raised an eyebrow and jerked his head towards the door, where William Cameron was standing uncomfortably.

* * *

"I…well…I thought maybe we could all talk things through, or something." William announced, taking a step into the room. House got to his feet.

"I'll just be leaving."

"No!" Hayley and Cameron objected, Cameron blushing as she said it. Both William and House looked shocked but House shrugged and sank back into his seat, twirling his cane absently. William walked through the room and grabbed the spare chair from the corner, positioning it about a foot away from Hayley's bed. Cameron turned so that she was facing her sister, and side-on to both House and her father. House caught her eye and she felt that stupid blush creep over her again. He smiled and she mentally kicked herself for smiling girlishly back.

"So I've been thinking." William began, and Cameron's attention was instantly drawn back to the more important matter in hand. "Maybe I acted a little irrationally yesterday." House resisted the urge to mock, and contented himself with reaching into his pants pocket for his Vicodin. William continued, speaking to Cameron. "I spoke to Andrea and while there is nothing we would like more than for Hayley to come live with us and the boys, we agreed that that may not be the best thing for her."

"I'm right here." Hayley said, slightly irritated that discussions about her future were basically taking place over her head. It was Cameron who apologised;

"Sorry. What are you saying Dad?" William leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and looking at his youngest daughter.

"I think, Andrea and I think, that you're old enough to make your own decision. After all, you're 17 years old and in a couple of months it wouldn't matter anyway. But, if you stay in New Jersey – which I assume you will," he raised an eyebrow and half smiled at his daughters. "There will be some conditions." Cameron wrinkled her forehead in confusion while Hayley opened her mouth to object. William held up a hand, quieting their protests. "Nothing major. But Allie, sweetheart, you were right yesterday when you told me that…well that I haven't exactly been a proper father since Michelle died. And maybe even before then. So from now on, one week in the summer and occasional dinners is not enough. I want the both of you to come for vacations in Rhode Island, Andrea and the boys and I will all come to New Jersey and visit you here and we are going to act like a proper family. Do I make myself clear?" William cleared his throat and rubbed his face with one hand.

"Yeah. Hayley said, and Cameron nodded.

"Thank you, Dad." She added.

"I also called your mother." William mentioned, trying not to notice the way that both of his daughters flinched. "She's going out of town for a few days; to a conference so you can drive up and get all of Hayley's stuff."

"Right." Cameron nodded, and House noticed a single tear make its way down Hayley's cheek. He cleared his throat loudly; causing all three Cameron's to look at him.

"Providing there are no surprises and Hayley can make it through tonight without morphine she should be able to go home tomorrow." He paused before saying the word 'home' and looked a Cameron. She smiled and for a moment he forgot what he was talking about. "That means no more wandering on rooftops, ok?" he told Hayley, who blushed and cast a sideways glance at her father.

"Rooftops?" William asked, prompting House to make his exit. He left the room to the sounds of Hayley trying to explain;

"Well it wasn't like it sounds!"

* * *

Cameron caught up with him at the elevator about an hour later. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder; after spending almost three consecutive days at the hospital supervising Hayley, and in a roundabout way taking care of Cameron, he needed a shower and a real bed.

"Dr. House." She said, nervously eyeing a gaggle of med-students who were waiting for the elevator. She almost laughed when she saw two of the younger looking students nudge each other when they heard the name of the infamous diagnostician.

"Yes, Dr. Cameron." He replied, mimicking her formalities. The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, grabbing her wrist and pulling her in with him. He quickly pressed the door close button and made a sad-face at the med-students clamouring to share an elevator with _the_ Dr. House. The doors closed and Cameron turned to him,

"What was that for?" she asked but instead of an answer she got House's lips on hers in a dangerously insistent kiss. When they broke apart seconds later he smirked at her.

"I think they already learned about anatomy in med-school. Probably didn't need a demonstration." Cameron smiled, leaning back against the elevator wall. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Can I borrow your car?" she asked immediately, and House looked bemused. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out, walking through the lobby with Cameron close on his heels.

"Why?"

"My dad's gonna stay with Hayley so I can drive to New York and get her stuff. But I'm gonna need to hire a trailer or something and my car doesn't have a tow bar. Yours does."

"Since when do you pay attention to my car?" House asked, pulling on his leather gloves. Cameron rolled her eyes.

"Can I borrow your car or do I have to ask Chase?" she demanded and House grinned.

"No." Cameron looked shocked and slightly affronted but he went on.

"Hayley told me what you did to your parents' car when you were seventeen; there is no way I am letting you drive mine." He paused to take in the expression on Cameron's face; confusion to begin with followed by that all too familiar blush when she realised what he was talking about. "Go home and get changed, I'll pick you up at 11." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before slipping on his helmet and straddling his bike. Cameron stood stunned as he revved off, swerving cars on his way out of the parking lot. It wasn't until she got back into the hospital lobby that she realised he'd kissed her in public.

* * *

The sound of the doorbell made her jump. She grabbed her purse with one hand whilst opening her front door with the other, then smiled at the sight before her. House was leaning nonchalantly against the wall, smirking at her.

"What?" she asked warily, pulling the door closed.

"Nothing." He remarked as he followed her down the hallway, casually checking out her butt. Like him she had changed, but while his outfit was much the same as his work attire she had chosen dark-wash jeans and a skinny t-shirt. The jeans were the best piece of the outfit he decided, mainly because of the diamante butterfly that adorned the left back pocket. He shook his head as she opened the heavy front door of her apartment building.

"What?" she asked him again, wondering if she had forgotten to take the label out of her new jeans, or something equally stupid.

"I like the jeans." He answered simply, before stopping abruptly behind her when she began to laugh at the sight before her on the street.

"What?" he repeated her question and she looked up at him.

"You already hired a trailer? And found boxes?" she asked, disbelieving. Attached to the rear of his car was a silver trailer and inside it were about a dozen flattened removal boxes. House shrugged,

"Borrowed the trailer from a neighbour; he got all excited – I think he thought I was moving. And the boxes are from Wilson, with all those divorces he figured it was easier to just keep them for whenever he needs to pack up his stuff."

"You," Cameron said, making her way down the steps of her building towards the car, "are a lot sweeter than people realise." House followed her down and rested his hand gently on the small of her back, pulling her gently towards him.

"Don't tell anyone." He muttered, leaning towards her. "I have a reputation to keep." He kissed her quickly then reached around and held the passenger door open for her. She smiled at his chivalry and climbed into the seat, noting that his iPod was plugged into the car stereo. He clambered into the driver's seat and grinned at her from his side; starting the engine and immediately pressing 'Play'. The opening strains of 'The Clash's' "London Calling" came through the speakers. Cameron laughed as the car pulled away.

"What exactly did Hayley tell you?" Cameron asked about thirty minutes into the drive.

"About what?" House asked, and Cameron raised an eyebrow.

"I saw that." House told her, looking sideways.

"Watch the road!" she objected, shifting in her seat to look properly at him. "You said Hayley told you what I did to my parent's car…what exactly did she tell you?"

"Apparently, you and your mom had a fight because she wouldn't let you learn to drive, despite being seventeen. So, with brilliant seventeen year old logic you decided to steal her car and promptly wrapped it around a tree." He laughed, but stopped quickly when he realised Cameron wasn't laughing with him. "That's not the whole story is it?"

"Not all of it. It was about three months after Michelle died, and it wasn't about learning to drive. I'd gotten accepted to my first choice college and Mom told me she didn't want me to go; she didn't want me to become a doctor. So, with my 'brilliant seventeen year old' attitude I stole the car and promptly wrapped it around a tree. I got off lightly considering that in between the stealing and the crashing into a tree I also downed a bottle of vodka."

"Hardcore." House muttered and she swatted him with her palm.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

* * *

I promise two things for the next chapter...the first is that Hayley will FINALLY get out of hospital; it feels like she's been in there forever and I can only write about hospital corridors for so long. The other is a slight rating bump...nothing too exciting but it's going up just a tad, to be safe. 

As always, please review because they are what makes my world go round. Sarah xoxo :D


	19. Chapter 19

Two chapters in two days!! Hooray!! And for the people who think this is a little familiar, it's the same chapter I posted about an hour ago except it has a few extra sentences cos I realised (thanks to banjkazfan) that the middle part didn't actually make a whole lot of sense. So yeah...and also, Mommy Issues has now been bumped from K+ to T, just to be safe. Read on, lovely reader!!

* * *

"Well if it isn't Allie Cameron!" exclaimed Walter, hurrying toward to hug Cameron warmly. She smiled, noting that the doorman's hair was thinner and greyer than the last time she had seen him, and he himself was slightly rounder.

"Hi Mr. Harris." She replied, to which the doorman shook her head.

"You haven't called me Mr. Harris since you were ten. What happened to Uncle Walter?" he asked and she laughed.

"I'm almost thirty!"

"Now that's just making us feel old." came the voice of the second doorman, Charles as he stepped out of the elevator. Cameron turned and hugged the second man, stepping back sharply when he began to cough.

"Are you ok?" she asked, worried by the ominous sound. Charles nodded, thumping his chest a couple of times.

"Don't you go getting all doctor-like on me, missy. I still remember the Christmas when you and your the girls rollerbladed round the foyer in your pyjamas!" Cameron grinned, and the two doormen surveyed her with approval. She was too skinny, but that's what girls were like nowadays. And her hair was darker than the last time she'd been to visit, but it suited her.

"So how's our Hayley?" Walter asked; his voice full of concern. Cameron beamed.

"She's going to be just fine thanks to-" her sentence was halted by the sounds of House struggling through the front doors of the building. His cane was hooked over one arm and half a dozen folded boxes underneath the other.

"Little help here?" he called across the foyer and Cameron rushed over to grab the boxes.

"Sorry," she murmured, leaning the boxes against the wall and holding the door to let him through.

"Will six be enough or do you want the rest of them?" he asked. Cameron shook her head,

"No, six should be fine for now. I don't know how much of Hayley's stuff is still here; she's been slowly leaving more and more stuff at my apartment for years!" she smiled and turned back to the two doormen who were discussing the boxes, and the reappearance of the brusque doctor they had met a few days before. Clearly they weren't impressed by the casual way he was dressed; his dark blue shirt was unbuttoned over a plain white t-shirt, on top of a pair of slightly baggy jeans.

"Something tells me this isn't a social visit?" Charles asked light-heartedly and Cameron nodded.

"Hayley's going to be moving to New Jersey with me." Cameron replied, "I'm here to pack up her stuff." Walter and Charles were silent for a moment; the only sound was House heaving the boxes over to the elevator.

"Well make sure you both come back and visit." was Walter's only comment. It was backed up with a sharp nod from Charles. Cameron felt slightly guilty; Walter and Charles had looked on her, Michelle and Hayley as their nieces and Michelle's death had been almost as hard on them as it had been on the family. She moved to hug one or both of the men, but the sound of the elevator doors opening interrupted her. She turned her head and saw House roughly throwing the boxes in, and giving her a pointed look.

"I'll see you both later." She told the two doormen, making her way towards the elevator and pushing a wayward box with her toe. The doors closed quickly behind her and she felt her stomach flip as, at the same time the elevator began to move, House slipped his free hand round her waist.

"Rollerblading in your pyjamas?" he smirked.

* * *

Cameron slid her key into the lock and hesitatingly pushed the door open. House raised an eyebrow as he followed her in; three boxes tucked underneath his arm. Cameron lugged the other three one-handed as she set the key down on the little table by the door, leaning the boxes up against it.

"Why are you holding your breath?" he asked her, adding his boxes to hers against the table.

"It feels weird being here…" she replied after a moment and then, slowly she slipped off her shoes. House stared at her as she swooped down to pick them up and made her way to a little closet he hadn't noticed on his first visit. She opened the door and set her shoes on a little shelf, next to a pair of black court shoes. House toed off his sneakers and added them on the shelf, the other side of Cameron's simple black pumps.

"You don't have to do that!" she told him, and he shrugged.

"Wouldn't want to mess up the carpet." He muttered and she smiled delicately.

"Let's get started." She said, tucking her hair behind her ears with one hand and shutting the closet with the other.

"Hayley's room is-"

"End of the corridor, I know." House interrupted. It was strange seeing Cameron in this apartment; he knew she must have fitted in here once but it was hard to imagine her ever running down the hallway or jumping on that ridiculously pretentious couch with her friends. The Cameron he knew belonged in a lab coat running tests with long, complicated names or in her own apartment in some deviation of the outfit she was wearing now, not in this environment. He grabbed some of the boxes before leading the way down the hall. Cameron waited a few seconds before taking hold of the rest of the boxes and following him.

Making her way down the hallway she took in the prints that were hanging on the walls and realised that it had been almost a year since she had been in this apartment. Her mother had decorated since that time; in fact she decorated every eighteen months or so; all of the communal areas and her own bedroom. It drove Hayley mad, Cameron knew, because Hayley likened the smell of paint with the smell of hospitals.

She paused for a second at the door that led to Michelle's old bedroom and her hand lingered almost of its' own accord at the door handle. She clenched her fist, promising herself that once she had finished packing Hayley's stuff she would go on and…well, she didn't know why but ever since Michelle had died it had been silently forbidden for anyone to enter her bedroom. Hers was the only room in the entire apartment that was the same in 2007 as it had been in 1998 when Michelle had died.

"What?" she asked, coming to her senses and realising that House was stood unmoving in the open doorway to Hayley's bedroom.

"I don't think we're gonna need the boxes." House muttered under his breath and she tried to slip past him, stopping short when she realised what he meant. Six boxes stood in the middle of the carpet, with black marker notes scribbled on them. Hayley's bedroom had been stripped over everything that made it hers; the bookcase was empty and the pinboard over her desk was free of all the notes and bits of useless information that had been there previously. The few posters Hayley had stuck on her walls had been pulled down and the spaces they had occupied on the wall were only noticeable by the fact that they were a marginally different colour to the rest of the room. The room was an empty shell and it made Cameron's skin crawl to even be in there.

"I can't believe she did this." She choked out, her shoulders shaking. "I can't believe she packed up all Hayley's stuff, how could she do this?" She backed out rapidly, almost tripping over House's cane in her haste and heading down the corridor, boxes still in her hand. House stood for a moment, one of the few times in his life that he wasn't sure what to do. Hearing loud clattering from inside the room he knew to be her bedroom he followed her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, though really it was perfectly obvious. Cameron was grabbing things from around her room and throwing them into boxes; a few books, stuffed animals and the occasional sweater that had been forgotten in the back of her closet.

"I'm packing, what does it look like?" Cameron snapped in answer, seizing on a photo frame from beside her old bed.

"It looks like you're about to destroy something you don't want to destroy." House retorted, grabbing her wrist and indicating the image held within in the gold frame; Cameron was in the middle, with Hayley and Michelle on either side of them. In the picture they were crowded around a huge pile of Christmas presents, and had miniature silver tiaras balanced on identical light-brown curls.

"Let go of me." Cameron scowled, and House was struck by the immense difference between the Cameron in the picture and the Cameron in front of him– one was young and smiling and the other was angry beyond belief.

"No." he countered and she snatched her hand away, placing the photo frame inside the box that was standing half-filled in the corner of her room. He watched as she stood aimlessly in the centre of the room, her arms crossed across her chest in frustration. Hesitatingly he reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder and then suddenly she was flush up against him, her lips pressingly forcefully against his and her hands fisting tightly in his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled as he pulled away, silently kicking himself.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she grumbled, her fingers playing with the hem of his button-down shirt as she refused to look him in the eye. From their close proximity he could feel her heart pounding so hard he thought it was going to burst out of her chest.

"Cameron-" he began, his voice low like a warning.

"Shut up." She leaned forward and kissed his throat lightly, moving her lips slowly up to his neck. "Cameron…" he repeated and then her hand was over his mouth, silencing him.

"I never had sex in this bedroom." She whispered and her lips were on his again, her tongue in his mouth and her hands slipping underneath the fabric of both his button-down and his t-shirt to brush along his warm skin. He felt himself give in to her slightly, mentally telling himself that it would be the only time, and allowed her to reach up and push his button-down shirt off his shoulders so that it fluttered down to the floor. Cameron moved a half-step forward, pressing her hips against his and brushing his cane out of his hand. He was forced to lean into her, his arm holding tight to her waist. It wasn't until she reached down between them and he heard the familiar clink of his belt buckle that he pulled away.

For a few minutes the only sound was their breathing, erratic and heavy, until House spoke. His voice was hoarse.

"This isn't a good idea." Cameron quirked her eyebrow so high that it almost disappeared underneath her hair.

"You're trying to tell me you don't want this?" she asked with a sharp look at him.

"You're upset and you're angry and this isn't a good idea. _You_ don't want to do this, not now." House repeated and Cameron suddenly sat on her bed, crossing her legs and resting her head in her hands.

"That was a really stupid thing to do. Sorry." She muttered and he took a seat next to her on the blue and white bedspread. "Would you please say something?" Cameron asked, frustrated with his silence.

"If you're serious about packing up your stuff we should probably get a move on." He said, knowing it was the wrong thing before he even spoke the last word but unable to say anything else. Cameron's heart sank. She didn't know what she wanted him to say, not after the way she had just acted but she had hoped it would be something less innocuous. He heaved himself off the bed and glanced around for his cane; it had fallen against her nightstand. Picking it up he felt sure he should say something.

"I'll uh…I'm gonna take some of Hayley's boxes down to the car." He walked heavily out of the room, leaving Cameron behind.

* * *

I'm sooooo mean!!! But I promise, hand on heart and fingers on keyboard that I will lighten up on Cameron soon, and stop being so mean to her and House. And, yeah...Hayley will get out of hospital eventually...this chapter was just getting too long for me to put that in as well. So you're just gonna have to review as usual, and wait for the next one. Can't believe it's gonna be chapter TWENTY! Sarah xoxo :D 


	20. Chapter 20

Now, don't get used to this...three chapters in three days is my limit: it will be another few days before you guys get chapter 21, cos tomorrow I have plans :P But this is for everyone who (like me) got annoyed with me being so mean to House and Cam...enjoy!

* * *

"Are you ready to go?" Cameron asked as Hayley surveyed the room one last time. The younger girl nodded.

"For the fifth time, _yes!_" she enthused. "I am _so_ glad to _finally_ be getting out of here."

"Hey, I work here!" Cameron objected lightly and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"And I'm sure it's a really nice hospital, I'm sure that now I'm officially discharged I'll love it and want to spend as much time here as you do." She said. Cameron raised an eyebrow and Hayley grinned. "Joke! God, what did House do to you?" It was a throwaway question, one that earlier that day Cameron would have easily brushed aside. But given what had unfolded a few hours before in her old bedroom, Cameron was even more sensitive to her sister's gentle jibes about House. A blush spread over her face and Hayley paused.

"What?" she asked, suspicious of the telltale pinkness of her sister's cheeks.

"Nothing." Cameron answered quickly, knowing that Hayley would be able to spot the lie but silently begging her to let it go, because right at that moment she could hear House limping up the corridor and she didn't want to get into anything. Hayley somewhat wisely allowed it to slide and shrugged on her boyfriend's NYU sweater. Jake had left it with Cameron for her, telling the older of the two sisters that Hayley wore it more than he did anyway.

"So," House announced as he entered the room. "Checking out already?" Hayley turned, flipping her hair out of the neck of her sweater, and beamed.

"I exhausted the mini-bar; figured it was time to leave." She retorted and House's eyebrows raised just a fraction; he was impressed.

"We should probably get going." Cameron told her sister, lifting a duffel bag full of Hayley's things. In her time at the hospital Hayley had accumulated enough 'stuff' to fill a junk-shop.

"Sure." Hayley grabbed her backpack, the only thing Cameron had allowed her to carry considering she was technically still a post-surgery patient. The only reason she was being discharged today was because she was going to live with Cameron; if she had been returning to New York her stay would have lasted another few days, just to be on the safe side. As Hayley had joked,

"There are some advantages to a mom who doesn't want you."

House walked them to the elevator, making small-talk with Hayley and studiously avoiding any eye-to-eye contact with Cameron. As Cameron was about to step into the elevator, where Hayley was waiting impatiently, House took her arm. Hayley's eyebrow shot up as she wondered what he was doing but House missed the action; his attention was focused on Cameron. He leaned in close and she felt him slip something into her jacket pocket; it rustled, like it was a paper something but he caught her hand before she could reach into her pocket and investigate.

"Don't spoil the surprise." He muttered and withdrew, allowing her to enter the elevator. Hayley was watching with her mouth slightly open in surprise, not quite sure what she had just witnessed but enthralled all the same.

* * *

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Hayley bounced around the elevator like a four year old, grasping for the piece of paper in her big sister's hand. Cameron restrained her with an arm and stared at the note. It was so typically House; blatantly obvious to it's destined reader but impossibly cryptic to everybody else. Which is why when Cameron relinquished the note to her little sister all she got was a 'Huh?' in response.

"What's he on about?" Hayley asked as they loaded her bags into the trunk of Cameron's car.

"It's nothing." Cameron answered, moving to the front of the car and opening her door. Once inside, Hayley persisted.

"I just had surgery, you can't _not_ tell me!" she objected. Cameron whipped the piece of paper out of Hayley's hand and folded it, tucking it into her pocket.

"You didn't _just_ have surgery and I'll tell you later." She said as she started the car.

"Spoilsport." Hayley muttered, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her feet against the dashboard.

"Child." Cameron retorted as she pulled away from the parking space. "And put your feet down, do you want to end up back in there?"

"Because me having my feet up is suddenly going to cause a car-crash?"

"Because you having your feet up means I can't see, which could cause a car-crash." Hayley's feet remained on the dash. "If you don't put your feet down I won't tell you." The younger of the two sisters stuck her tongue out and returned her feet to the floor of the car, feeling the hum of the engine reverberate through the soles of her shoes. After a few moments of silence she turned her head to Cameron.

"Tell me now!"

* * *

"Oh…my…God. You didn't!" Hayley exclaimed, her voice brimming with girlish excitement. Cameron cringed. She had managed to withhold the details of the day before until just after ten-thirty and now, as they waited for their take-out pizzas to arrive she had finally spilled the beans. They were sat on opposite ends of the sofa, facing each other. Hayley's legs were crossed as she lead forward in anticipation, while Cameron was clutching her legs to her and smothering her face in the sofa cushion she had balanced on her knees.

"I did. And it was _such_ a mistake!" she groaned.

"Well House doesn't seem to think so!" Hayley responded, reaching over and grabbing House's note from the coffee table. She had read it so many times that she knew it's message by heart, so waved it in front of her sister's face while reciting; '_Wrong place, wrong time, right idea._' That sounds to me like he didn't mind so much!"

"You aren't helping." Cameron muttered, her voice muffled by the cushion.

"Well I think you should call him. He clearly wants you to." Cameron raised her head.

"I think I missed the part of the note where he says that."

"Read between the lines, big sister!" Hayley laughed, hopping off the couch to answer the door to what she thought would be the Pizza guy. She swung it open quickly and stopped short.

"You aren't pizza."

"And you're the wrong Cameron." House countered, walking past her into the apartment. "I wanted to talk to you." He said to the 'right' Cameron, who was sitting stunned on the couch.

"uh…I'll just be…getting the pizza!" she said, seizing on the unsuspecting delivery guy. She gave him a twenty from the table by the door and thrust it at him. "Keep the change." She told him, shutting the door abruptly and turning to face the two 'adults', who at that moment couldn't have looked more juvenile if they had tried. "Oh, for god's sake. You two are worse than two thirteen year olds on a first date. I am going to take the pizza into the kitchen, and then I am going to go to my bedroom for an unspecified amount of time. Get your damn acts together!" she gave them a look that House supposed was supposed to be stern, but came out more comical than anything else, before flouncing towards the kitchen. Cameron giggled.

"I am so sorry about her." She patted the sofa seat beside her and House took it gratefully, his leg was protesting about the amount of strain he had put on it today. While Cameron had insisted that he wasn't allowed to lift any boxes she had caught him on more than one occasion trying to balance his cane in one hand, a box in the other _and_ still walk in some semblance of a straight line.

The rest of the afternoon hadn't been that awkward, House had considered after dropping Cameron and the boxes off at her apartment. As he drove home he told himself that after his idiotic statement it could have been a lot worse. Of course, as usual when it came to Cameron he was lying, and about an hour ago he had come to the decision that he was an idiot.

"So…" He began, at the same time as Cameron said,

"Listen…" Neither of them knew what to say, and an empty silence followed, broken only by Hayley walking through the living room with a glass of Coke and a plate of pizza. As she saw them she tutted loudly and the two adults looked at each other, suddenly realising how stupid the situation was.

"Look, this afternoon was awkward. And I did want…that…but you would have regretted it." House said in one breath, holding a silencing hand to Cameron when she opened her mouth to speak. "And the note-thing was juvenile, but that's me. I don't do…this…whatever this is." Cameron leaned her head slightly to one side; in the dim light of her living room House looked even more attractive than he usually did. She shuffled forward slightly, closer to him and he turned to look at her; surprised by the action.

"Lucky for you," she said; her voice low so that Hayley, who she knew would be eavesdropping, couldn't hear, "I am great at this."

* * *

There, all you obsessive House/Cam people...are you happier now??? Cos I have to admit, I am!!! As always, review...I'm hoping to hit 300 reviews in 20 chapters so pleeeeease! 


	21. Chapter 21

So this has taken _far_ longer than I anticipated; I've had this chapter written for days, literally, but I couldn't upload it. But _now_, thanks to Fenris242's oh-so-brilliant forum, I got the way around that particular snag. So I hope chapter 21 was worth the wait!!!

* * *

"For the last time, nothing happened!" Cameron said, pulling into the driveway of the first school on their list. House had given her the day off to go school-hunting with Hayley. There were five to visit; three were their mother's choice and two were Cameron and Hayley's – one was within walking distance of their apartment and the other a five minute drive past the hospital. 

On the drive from their apartment Hayley had grilled her big sister about their 'visitor' from the night before, and it wasn't until they pulled into the driveway that Hayley had stopped questioning; mainly because she was too horrified at what she saw. It was an imposing building with six foot high walls around the perimeter.

"No way." Hayley protested immediately. "There is no way I am going to school _here_.

"What's wrong with it?" Cameron asked, confused.

"First off, it looks like a prison. Secondly, it's all-girls, which is probably why Mom chose it and thirdly, _they_ _have_ _a uniform_." Practically on cue two teenage girls walked past the parked car, dressed in blue and gold plaid skirts, navy blazers and knee-length socks. Cameron sighed.

"Pass me my purse." Hayley looked confused but reached into the foot-well to retrieve the small black clutch her sister wanted. Cameron reached in and pulled out her cell-phone, glancing at a piece of paper as she dialled.

"What are you doing?" Hayley asked, recognising the piece of paper as her mother's detailed description of the schools she thought suitable for her not-so beloved daughter. Cameron shushed her sister by holding up her hand.

"Hello? I'd like to speak to Ms. Montgomery, please. My name's Allison Cameron, I have an appointment booked with her about my sister Hayley. Thank you." Cameron held a hand over the mouthpiece of her cell and looked at her sister. "You're certain you don't want to go here?" she asked, and Hayley scoffed.

"200 percent." She replied and Cameron quirked her eyebrow, before speaking into the phone again.

"Ms. Montgomery? It's Allison Cameron here…yes, that's right, I had an appointment booked. Unfortunately, we won't be able to attend today, Hayley was only discharged from the hospital yesterday and I think she needs another few days at home to recover…no, I'll be in touch when she's up to it, thank you. I'll pass it on. Ok, thank you." Cameron flipped her phone shut and replaced it in her purse. "You owe me."

"Of course." Hayley smiled. "Where are we going to next?" she asked as Cameron re-started the car.

* * *

"What do you think?" Cameron asked her sister. 

"It's great!" Hayley replied, in awe of the school. It was the last one on the list but it was the only one where Hayley and Cameron had actually gotten through the front door. "I think we have a keeper." She muttered and Cameron sighed in relief. She had wandered through the school with bated breath, trying not to get too excited when Hayley herself asked what kind of extra-curricular activities the school had. Hayley's opinion of the four previous schools had gotten worse as the day had progressed until Cameron was seriously considering the possibility of home-schooling. After all, their mother was going to continue paying for Hayley's schooling so why not go for the best?

"So, what do we think?" the school principal Mr. Hendrix asked them. He was an older guy, probably in his fifties but he looked as if he knew what was going on in his school. Cameron snuck a glance at Hayley, who grinned.

"I love it." The younger girl told him and he smiled.

"Well that's great. And does Mom agree?" he asked Cameron, who didn't quite know what to say.

"Allison is my _sister_. I'm moving from New York to live with her, I thought she told your secretary." Hayley answered for her sister, half-angry at the principal though she didn't really know why. The poor guy didn't know where to look.

"I'm so sorry; we don't actually have a permanent secretary at the moment so we're working with temps. Your message must have been misunderstood. I really am sorry."

"It's ok." Cameron assured him. "I think Hayley will be really happy here." The principal smiled.

"Well how about head to my office and make a start on the paperwork?" he offered, gesturing towards a staircase just as a loud bell began to ring somewhere in the school. The hallway was suddenly filled with teenagers. Mr. Hendrix led Cameron and Hayley up the staircase, warning them to keep to the left if they didn't want to be trampled.

* * *

"Hey." Cameron said, walking into House's office. He was sitting alone at his desk, browsing through a medical journal; she didn't recognise the language. She pulled the blinds shut and flicked on the lamp; it was after six; Foreman and Chase had left already and it was almost dark outside. 

"How was school?" he asked as she made herself comfortable; slipping off her shoes and sitting on the couch.

"She starts next week." Cameron stretched her legs out on the couch and leaned backwards, her head spinning.

"That soon?" House questioned, barely raising his eyes from his journal.

"Well she refused to even go in the first four, and she really liked the last one. So much so that she actually asked to start sooner, but I think she needs to settle into New Jersey first."

"Right."

"What's wrong with you?" Cameron asked, noticing that House wasn't paying attention to the journal, or to her.

"Nothing." He answered quickly and Cameron frowned.

"Hey!" she objected, swinging her legs down and staring at him. "Is this about last night?"

"No." he looked like a petulant child, pretending to read the journal held in front of him but he hadn't actually turned a page since she had entered the office.

"I'm sorry about that, but I didn't think-"

"I'm actually trying to read this; it's a very important article."

"About what?" Cameron asked, moving from the couch to the desk. His side of the desk, so that she was almost directly in front of him.

"Something very complicated and important. Be quiet." She leaned towards him slightly and peeked over the top of the journal, then tried not to smile when she saw that he was actually reading a car magazine and just using the journal as a cover. From whom she had no idea; Cuddy's office had been empty when she swung by to ask for a few more days' time off. She whipped both the magazine and the journal away from him and took his chin in one hand; forcing him to look at her.

"Talk to me."

"No." he said childishly.

"So it is about last night."

"Nothing _happened_ last night." House said pointedly, eyeballing her, and she dropped his chin with a half-scowl.

"You are worse than a child who didn't get his favourite toy." she crossed her arms resolutely.

"Who said you were my favourite toy?" He said, reaching out, unfolding her arms and pulling her towards him.

* * *

_The previous evening ..._

Cameron hadn't been lying to Hayley when she said that nothing had happened between her and House, but she hadn't exactly been honest with her. After they had eaten the rest of the pizza Cameron had found a bottle of wine in the kitchen and House had rooted through her CD collection, trying to find something he deemed 'decent music'. They had eventually settled on one of Hayley's; The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection. As House had said when he found it between Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani; "You have a weird sister."

They had talked for a while; about Hayley, Michelle, and Cameron's childhood, Cameron's 'appalling' taste in music versus House's self-proclaimed 'musical brilliance', their work and a dozen other topics, all the while gradually getting closer and closer to each other on the couch until finally the CD had long since ended and Cameron was practically sitting on top of him, their tongues in each other's mouths and his hands making his way up her top like they were a couple of horny teenagers. Cameron had once again shoved House's button-down shirt from his shoulders but it wasn't until House tried to wrestle her out of her t-shirt that she had paused and pulled away from him.

"You're killing me." House had groaned as she slid off his lap, rearranging her top.

"Hey, the first time was your fault." She chastised, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and smoothing it out, before tying it up again. Sometime during all the kissing House had managed to recreate the 'pulled through a hedge backwards' look for her.

"So do you have a reason or am I just gonna have to sit here?" Cameron had held her hand to her mouth to shush him, and seconds later Hayley had walked in to say goodnight. Once she was safely installed back in her bedroom House had been understandably freaked out.

"You forgot to mention that you had a psychic connection. I'm hoping that she wasn't using hers about ten minutes ago." Cameron had laughed and House had noticed, not for the first time, how beautiful she was when she was happy.

"I heard her running the water in the bathroom." She had told him, spoiling his fun and a dozen other psychic-related jokes he was already thinking of. House glanced at Cameron's VCR; too lazy to check his own watch, but found himself confused when the clock showed 16:31. Cameron grinned, a devilish '_I know something you don't_' kind of grin and he had suddenly found himself gently pushing her down on the sofa and trying to finish what they had started. Of course, Cameron had had to spoil the fun, once again, by pointing out that it was almost two in the morning and they both had to go to work in six hours.

* * *

_(In House's office) _

"We can't stay here. I have to get back for Hayley."

"She's a big girl." House protested, pulling her back towards him so that she straddled his lap.

"Who had surgery three days ago, and moved to a new state, and was expecting me back…" she glanced at her watch, "two hours ago! God, I have to go." She stumbled off his lap, almost jarring his thigh and slipped on her shoes. She was half out the door when she paused, and turned around.

"Do you want to come for dinner?"

* * *

Surely you know the drill by now??? Pretty please with a cherry on top :P 


	22. Chapter 22

Oops, noticed a few mistakes when I was reading through this again, so second time lucky I guess! Also, apparently my alerts aren't working so I don't know if and when I get reviews...but when alerts get fixed I will reply to all :D

* * *

Cameron and House could hear the music from the elevator; something from the _Moulin Rouge_ soundtrack was emanating loudly from her apartment.

"Please tell me that's not your CD." House muttered and Cameron shook her head as she delved into her purse for her keys. She withdrew them; a childishly triumphant grin on her face, and slid the key into the lock.

"Hayley?" Cameron called over the noise of the music, dumping her purse and jacket over the arm of the couch. "Make yourself at home." She told House before making her way through the apartment, calling for her sister. House shrugged off his jacket, dropping it beside Cameron's and then took a seat on the couch, staring around him. In the 24 hours since he had been in this apartment Hayley, and Cameron as well he presumed, had interspersed some of Hayley's things with Cameron's belongings.

There were new books in the bookcase, more CDs next to the stereo and a stack of DVDs was dumped by the TV. House did a quick double take, realising for the first time that Cameron didn't have a DVD player – just a crappy old VCR that didn't show the right time. He gazed around; trying to figure out what else he had missed and noticed a new picture on the end table beside him. It showed all three Cameron sisters dressed up in several layers of winter clothing and standing proudly in front of a snowman. They all had identical grins plastered on their faces, pink cheeks and the same blue eyes.

"She relapsed three days after that was taken." Hayley said, tearing House's attention from the photograph and alerting him to the sudden quiet in the apartment.

"You turned the music off." He observed, not sure what to reply.

"Yeah, I forgot I even had that CD. You're staying for dinner?" Hayley rested one hand on her hip, apparently content to let the subject of her sister pass. House nodded, somewhat absently and she rolled her eyes. "Allie's getting changed. I hope you like pasta." House wrinkled his forehead as Hayley managed to change the subject practically mid-sentence, and at the same time answer a question he hadn't even asked."Pasta's fine." House answered as Hayley seemingly got bored of him and wandered away from the living room towards the kitchen.

"Are you going to come and help or are you just going to sit there?" she called as he heard the clatter of cutlery being set on the kitchen counter and various drawers being opened and shut. House smirked in spite of himself and slowly got to his feet.

* * *

"Can you open that can for me? I'd do it myself but the can-opener is a reject." Hayley was stood on tiptoes, stretching to rummage in a cupboard, but she twisted slightly to point somewhere in the region of the can, on top of which the can-opener was resting. A large saucepan full of pasta was boiling on top of the stove.

"You shouldn't be doing that." House told her, taking the can opener and opening the can with ease. Hayley didn't turn around, but laid out three bowls on the kitchen counter.

"I realise that by making dinner I am conforming to the female stereotype and destroying the work of feminists everywhere but did it ever occur to them that some women actually like to cook?" she asked, with the perfect degree of sarcasm only attainable by seventeen-year old girls.

"I meant stretching up like that; you'll tear your stitches." House slid the opened can along the counter and Hayley twisted around, poking her tongue out at him.

"My stitches are just fine." She retorted moving gracefully around the kitchen, draining the pasta and then stirring half of the contents of the can into it.

"Why are you putting chicken soup in pasta?" House asked, slightly confused by Hayley's choice of ingredients.

"I'd let her do it if I were you." Cameron's voice sounded from the doorway. House turned slightly and smiled. She was wearing the same pair of jeans from the trip to New York; the ones with the diamante butterfly. Her top was a simple blue t-shirt but the gentle smile on her face made him suddenly want to declare uncharacteristic amounts of love right there in the kitchen.

"Allie's right. I happen to be an excellent chef, even if I am unconventional and I will have you know that chicken soup actually works with pasta." Hayley began serving the food into bowls and studiously ignored House's somewhat confused glance at her sister.

"There's enough for seconds when you want it. And you will want it, this is good stuff." She told him, gesturing sternly with a fork but smiling at the same time.

"The proof of the pasta will be in the eating." Cameron quipped, handing House his own bowl of pasta and a fork.

"That was terrible even for you!" Hayley groaned, wandering into the living room.

"You smell good." Cameron whispered to House as they followed her sister between rooms.

"Seriously, killing me."

* * *

House eased off the couch, careful not to wake Cameron; she had fallen asleep during the news and she looked to cute to wake. He winced as the dull pain in his leg intensified and rummaged in his pocket for his Vicodin; there was only one pill left in the bottle which he swallowed hurriedly before making his way towards the bathroom. He passed Hayley's closed bedroom door; she had practically fallen asleep mid-conversation and had gone to bed about two hours before, conveniently leaving House and Cameron to their own devices.

"House?" he heard Cameron call drowsily as he was nosing through the cabinets. He jumped at the sound of her voice and shut the cabinet; running the water for a few seconds then emerging from the bathroom to find Cameron leaning against the opposite wall.

"You're still here." She stated and House wasn't sure if this was an invitation to leave. He hesitated for a brief second, then looked himself up and down with a fake-puzzled look on his face.

"Apparently, yes." Cameron gave a small nod, apparently missing the thinly-veiled sarcasm and regarding him thoughtfully. "What?" House asked, confused at finding himself under such intense scrutiny.

"You were nice tonight." She replied simply. It was true; House had been strangely pleasant for the whole evening; asking for thirds of the pasta and chicken soup concoction, explaining more about Felty's to Hayley and making hardly any sarcastic comments all evening. Except when Cameron and Hayley wanted to watch American Idol. But even then it was ok, since it turned out the only reason they wanted to watch was to laugh at the contestants who couldn't sing.

"Your point is…?" House asked, flipping off the bathroom light and stepping out into the corridor.

"You're never nice."

"I am _always_ nice," House countered, "I'm just not _your_ kind of nice."

"Whatever." She retorted, tilting her head to one side and narrowing her eyes at him.

"What?" he asked again.

"Nothing." Cameron answered sweetly and House raised an eyebrow, stepping forward so that he was just a few inches from her. "Really, nothing!" she held her hands up in mock-protest.

"Yeah, right." House said, moving closer again and slipping a hand around her waist to pull her towards him. He kissed her, gently at first then more firmly as she relaxed into him; her arms reaching up and her hands clasped behind his neck. She kissed him deeper, pulling slightly so that her back was resting up against the wall. He stopped suddenly, murmuring through her hair.

"Third time lucky?" Cameron didn't answer; instead she laced her fingers through his and led him towards her room.

* * *

Et voila! xoxo 


	23. Chapter 23

Just to say thanks to those people who have reviewed the last chapter and sorry I haven't replied like I normally do. Stupid alerts hate me at the moment, but as soon I'm forgiven I promise promise promise I'll reply to each and every one. Oh, and...it's taken me a while (because I'm pretty much a reject when it comes to most things computer related) but I figured out how to find out how many people have favourited _M.I._ (55) and how many alerts _M.I. _has (124) which is bizarrely coooooool!!! Thanks thanks thanks to everyone who reads and reviews and everything. :D Enjoy chapter 23!

* * *

Cameron shuffled further down under the covers, preferring the warmth of her duvet rather than the cold morning air of her bedroom. She rolled over and noticed the expanse of bed next to her, and then groaned when she realised what the emptiness meant. Casting an exploratory glance around her room she noticed her vanity table was messed up; bottles of lotion and her makeup were strewn across the table top rather than in their neat little clusters. The mirror was crooked too; like someone had leant against it.

A slow smile played on her lips as she remembered the night before, only to be replaced with a disappointed frown. Shivering, Cameron eased herself out of bed; shivering at the difference in temperature before slipping on a pair of socks, followed by pyjama pants, a t-shirt and the first sweater she could grab from her closet. Finally, smoothing her hair with her fingers she made her way towards the kitchen.

* * *

"What did Tuesday ever do to you?" House asked, staring bemused in front of the calendar on the wall. Cameron stood, stunned, for a few moments until House took her hand and curled her fingers around the handle of a coffee mug. She winced as her cold hands felt the heat of coffee through the ceramics and then stared at the man in her kitchen. House, her boss, the guy who had just spent the night in her apartment; in her _bed_, was now in her kitchen. And he was making breakfast.

"Use your words, Cameron." House said, absently turning towards the stove and tending to what looked like an omelette. Cameron took a hurried sip of coffee while she tried to kick-start her brain into articulating the thousands of thoughts that were flying around her head.

"You're still here." She managed at last and House nodded. "And you're making breakfast." Again House nodded, but this time he turned around, balancing on his good leg whilst simultaneously transferring the omelette from the pan to a plate. He set it down on the counter and pulled a drawer open, presumably searching for cutlery.

"Third drawer from the sink." Cameron supplied, the answer a reflex. House laid a fork at the side of her plate and gestured for her to try the omelette. She looked at him, still registering the fact that he hadn't just slept with her and left, instead he had actually stayed and was now making her food. She hesitantly picked up the fork and speared a mouthful of food. House watched as she raised the fork to her mouth, and then groaned in disappointment when she lowered it quickly, letting it clatter against her plate.

"I didn't poison them. And unlike most of the stuff in your refrigerator they're still in date. It's a full-blown biohazard in there."

"I've been too busy with my sister's _brain haemorrhage_ and _splenectomy_ to worry about grocery shopping." Cameron replied, and House snorted.

"That's just _so_ last week." House drawled and Cameron laughed, lifting the fork once again.

"Why are you still here?" she asked through a mouthful of food. House raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I still be here?" Cameron shrugged in response.

"You don't exactly seem like the kind of person who would hang around. This is great by the way, don't you want some?"

"No thanks, I've seen the state of the refrigerator. I'm not eating anything else from this kitchen until you've hired a professional cleaner." Cameron swatted him with her free arm, continuing to eat the omelette he had made.

"Whatever. You didn't answer me."

"You didn't answer me either." House retorted and Cameron squared her shoulders.

"You didn't ask me a question."

"Sure I did, right when you came in here." House supplied.

"You did?" Cameron set her fork down on the now-empty plate and slid it across the counter towards House. "Do the dishes and I'll know you're a keeper." She smirked and House slid the plate to the side, resting his elbows on the counter between them and kissing her.

* * *

"So what did you ask me?" Cameron asked, slightly breathless a few minutes later.

"What did Tuesday ever do to you?" House replied.

"What?" Cameron looked confused so House indicated the Tuesday square on the calendar; the one she had furiously scribbled out. "Oh."

"Oh, what? What did Tuesday to do make you so mad at it? Or do you just hate _all _Tuesdays?"

"Not Tuesdays in general, just _that_ Tuesday." Cameron shrugged and picked up her empty plate, moving it to the sink and running the hot water for a few moments.

"And why that Tuesday?" House persisted, talking to her back.

"Because _that_ Tuesday was the anniversary of Michelle's death."

"Huh." House said, almost lost for words. Cameron shook the water off her plate and House distractedly picked up a dish-towel to dry it with.

"Not really the best day of the year to begin with, but when you factor in that Hayley was in a coma for the whole of that same day…well I guess you could say I had some issues with it." Cameron's voice was breezy as she answered but her hand shook as she reached up to put the plate back in its cupboard.

House knew that he was supposed to say something or do something but he didn't know what. His saving grace was Hayley's voice, gradually getting louder as she called to her sister whilst walking from her bedroom to the kitchen.

"Al, are we going shopping today cos if we are we need to get some more-oh." Hayley stopped her sentence midway through when she saw who was standing in the kitchen with her sister. "Good morning." She said, clearly not bothered by House's presence as she made her way to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton of milk, and then grabbed a glass from the drainer beside the sink. House glanced at Cameron, who shrugged as she watched Hayley pour a glass of milk and then drink it in a few gulps.

"What did you need?" Cameron asked while Hayley rinsed the glass, replacing it on the draining board. House noticed two familiar pink spots on her cheeks; like a teenager who got caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Shampoo, school stuff for next week. And it wouldn't hurt to buy food that isn't going to set up its own little ecosystem in the fridge." House laughed and Hayley grinned at him.

"Hey, stop with all the food comments! I have had more _important_ things to do than worry about the contents of my refrigerator. We'll go grocery shopping this morning, _ok_?"

"_OK_!" Hayley mimicked, rolling her eyes. "I'm gonna take a shower." She wandered out of the kitchen and Cameron and House looked at each other, both slightly stunned.

"Well…" House began,

"That was interesting." Cameron finished and House raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think she'd be so cool about it." Cameron said, moving towards House.

"Why wouldn't she be cool? I saved her life; it's only fair I get to sleep with her big sister." Cameron smirked as she wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her own up to his shoulders.

"I hope you don't use that logic for all our other patients." She admonished and House leaned forward to kiss her.

"Only if the big sister's a hot brunette named Allison Cameron."

* * *

Sorry for any typos or whatever, I think there's something wrong with my shoulder/elbow/wrist (i.e. my arm in general) and it hurts A LOT, so my typing may be a little bit off. 

As always, please please please review and I'll reply when I can :D


	24. Chapter 24

Welcome to chapter 24! Finally, alerts are fixed which hopefully means I have replied to all the amazing reviews I've gotten- if I missed you out I am really sorry but I don't think I have. This chapter is 'dedicated' to BraelynRae cos she pretty much begged me for something like this about 17 chapters ago. Happy reading!

* * *

It had been four weeks since Hayley had moved into Cameron's apartment and aside from 'minor disagreements' about who's turn it was to wash up and the fact that the telephone and internet bills had almost doubled, the two sisters had adjusted perfectly to living together. House was a regular visitor; although his visits didn't assume a regular pattern. On more than one occasion Hayley had gotten home from school to find that House and her sister had snuck away from work and ended up spending the afternoon in Cameron's bedroom. No-one but Wilson and Hayley knew about House and Cameron's relationship which of course made it all the more fun when it came to sneaking around the hospital. 

But for all of their sneaking, Cameron and House had assumed a surprisingly mature relationship. Occasionally he and Cameron would spend the night at his apartment, but Cameron didn't like to leave Hayley alone too often so most of the time House spend the evening with Cameron and Hayley; helping Hayley with her homework while Cameron made dinner, then doing the washing up so the two sisters could chill out. It was blissfully domesticated.

* * *

"You've brainwashed her." Hayley announced. House looked up from his medical journal; amused. They were in his office at the hospital; Cameron was in the conference room finishing up on her charting and Hayley, as 'punishment' for spending two hours on the phone to New York, was being forced to spend her Saturday at the hospital doing homework. 

"Excuse me?"

"Allie; she's brainwashed." Hayley set her pen down on the floor, folding over the page of the essay she had been scribbling on and staring back at him. "She doesn't even know her own name anymore." House smirked as he recognised the familiar sparkle in Hayley's eyes. He rested his medical journal on top of a pile of official-looking papers.

"And how exactly have I managed to do that?" He asked.

"Come here and I'll show you." Hayley, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor now stood, stretching her arms behind her head as House got up from behind his desk and moved to stand beside her. Cameron was sitting at the table in the conference room with her back towards them. She was scribbling quickly, her hand moving over the paper with surprising speed and occasionally she would shake her head slightly and scribble out what she had just written. "Watch..." Hayley instructed, before turning her attention to her sister. "Allie?" she called. Cameron didn't react. "Allie." Hayley repeated, but still no answer.

"And your point is…?" House muttered in Hayley's ear.

"Shh." She reproached. "Just watch." Hayley waited until House's attention was returned to Cameron, then she called out; "Cameron'."

"What?" Cameron replied instantly, not stopping in her scribbling. House laughed out loud and she turned around, looking confused when she saw he and Hayley stood in the doorway between his office and the conference room. Hayley was convulsed in silent laughter while House was just grinning.

"Nothing." He answered, and Cameron just smiled back at him; blowing a tiny kiss before returning to her charts.

* * *

The domesticity only lasted another few days though, because at 3am on Monday morning, Cameron and Hayley were awoken by the phone ringing. Through the silence of the apartment it sounded a thousand times louder than normal. The two sisters opened their bedroom doors at almost the exact same time; apparently both having decided the other one wasn't going to get it. Cameron answered the phone, while Hayley lounged against the wall; yawning as Cameron spoke to the caller. Within seconds Cameron's tone switched from sleepy and inattentive to alert and anxious. 

"What happened?" she asked urgently and Hayley immediately stood; arms wrapped around herself and eyes scanning Cameron's face. Cameron turned slightly, away from Hayley as she answered the person on the other end of the phone.

"I understand….yes; we'll be there as soon as we can…thank you for letting me know."

"What's wrong? Did something happen to House?" Cameron shook her head absently.

"No, it wasn't about House it was…"

"Allie, what's going on?" Cameron was silent, still clutching the phone in her hand. "Allison, you're freaking me out!" At the use of her full name Cameron started out of her daze.

"That was a doctor from New York Presbyterian. Mom's been admitted."

* * *

"What's wrong with her?" Hayley asked. She and Cameron were both sitting cross-legged on Cameron's bed; Cameron wearing her terry-robe and Hayley now wrapped in the comforter that usually was spread on top of the duvet. 

"She got in a car wreck; shattered pelvis and a broken leg; she's in pretty bad shape."

"Huh." Hayley mumbled. "Is she gonna die?"

"No, the doctor said she was stable. She's going into surgery first thing tomorrow."

"Well in that case I guess I'll just go back to bed." Hayley slipped the comforter off her shoulders and uncrossed her legs to step off the bed.

"What?" Cameron asked, stunned.

"It's like, 3 in the morning. I'm tired, and she's not dying so I'm going back to bed."

"Hayley, we have to go to New York." Cameron protested, following Hayley out of her bedroom and along the corridor into the teenager's bedroom.

"Excuse me?"

"She wants to see us, that's why the doctor called. We have to go."

"No, we don't." Hayley disputed, "We don't _have_ to do anything and you know why, Allie? You know _why_ we don't have to do anything?" Hayley rummaged through the piles of school-work adorning her desk and came up with her copy of the guardianship agreement. She waved it at Cameron. "_This_ is why we don't have to do anything."

"Hayley…" Cameron pleaded; her voice almost desperate.

"Don't beg me, Allie, cos I'm not going. She'll be fine, you said it yourself. I almost died and she left me there, why the hell should I worry about her?"

"We can't just leave her there alone. She'll need our help; after the surgery she'll be in a wheelchair for weeks, possibly even months."

"I don't care." Hayley threw the covers back and climbed into her bed.

"Hayley…"

"NO! I am NOT GOING to FUCKING NEW YORK!"

"You can't stay here on your own." Cameron protested, trying a different tactic.

"I'll be fine. I managed by myself when I lived with _her_." Hayley spat out the last word and Cameron realised it was pointless. She walked towards Hayley's bed and kissed her sister on the top of her head.

"I'll be leaving first thing in the morning." She said quietly as she left the room. Hayley waited until she heard Cameron's own bedroom door click shut before she allowed her tears to fall. She let herself slide down underneath the covers, sobbing; not knowing that in her own bedroom Cameron was doing exactly the same.

* * *

"I'll call when I get there, ok?" 

"Ok." Hayley was surprisingly unwilling as Cameron tried to wrap her in a hug but relaxed and suddenly draped her own arms tightly around her big sister.

"You can't stay a day longer than you have to. And call every night."

"If you need anything, call House." Following a hasty phone-call that morning House had ridden over on his motorbike to say goodbye. He was standing with them in the foyer of the apartment building now, leaning absently against the doorjamb and he nodded. He was going to be driving Hayley to and from school until Cameron got back and making sure she didn't get into any trouble.

"I'll be fine." Hayley assured her, holding on tight for a few more seconds before she let go, sniffing slightly. Cameron wrapped her arms around House's neck and he pulled her close, kissing her. Hayley turned away; while she had no problem with Cameron and House's relationship she didn't need to see it up close.

After what seemed like hours to Hayley and seconds to Cameron and House the two doctors drew apart.

"I'll call you tonight." Cameron said and House nodded.

"Drive safe." He told her, picking up her suitcase and then fake-groaning under its weight. "Did you pack your _entire _wardrobe?" he asked and Cameron laughed.

"You better not have." Hayley half-snapped and Cameron almost flinched.

"I promise I will be back the second she can manage on her own." She kissed Hayley on her forehead. "Promise."

* * *

Reviews are love... 


	25. Chapter 25

New chapter! But this is probably the last one for a few weeks as I have exams now. Just to warn you. So this is kind of long to make up for it...

* * *

House made his way to the clinic, mentally plotting various ways to annoy Cuddy as he went. The hospital administrator had insisted that since Cameron was away in New York and the Diagnostics Department hadn't been assigned a patient, House should be spending any spare time in the clinic. It had only been three days since Cameron had left, but to Hayley, and House, it felt like much longer. Strangely though, he was almost looking forward to an opportunity to stop staring at the clock.

"10.45 am, Dr. House checks in. Where do you want me?" He asked the nurse at the station. She raised an eyebrow at him; suspicious of his almost friendly tone.

"Exam Two; toddler with a Barbie shoe stuck up her left nostril." House took the file that the nurse was holding out and made his way to the assigned room.

"Good morning…" the nurse heard him say, with an uncharacteristic lack of sarcasm.

* * *

House checked his watch. Almost four hours had passed and he had only taken one break from sniffles, sprains, a teenager who glued her eyelids shut trying to put on a set of false eyelashes and one bizarre college student who seemed to think that he was allergic to himself. After ordering a psych consult for the guy House decided he owed himself a break.

"2.30 pm, Dr. House checks out." He told the nurse from before, and then he heard someone call his name.

"House?" He turned quickly and saw Hayley sitting on one of the chairs in the clinic waiting room wearing a bloodstained shirt. Her hand was wrapped in a dishcloth and she was pale and shaking. He moved towards her, carefully moving the cloth away from her hand to reveal a three-inch gash across the back of her hand.

"It hurts." Hayley whimpered and House replaced the cloth, pressing firmly.

"We'll be in exam two." He told the nurse, who nodded blankly; confused by House's reaction to the teenager. She rifled through the paperwork for waiting patients until she found Hayley's, scanning the page curiously and grinning when she recognised the surname Cameron.

"What happened?" House asked, wiping away some of the dried blood from the back of Hayley's hand.

"I was making something to eat but Allie's can opener is a reject." Hayley winced as he caught the edge of the cut. "It really hurts."

"It's not too deep but you're gonna need stitches." House told Hayley, sliding his stool around the room collecting various pieces of equipment. Hayley's eyes widened as she saw a syringe but House shook his head reassuringly.

"I'm assuming you want the local anaesthetic?" Hayley closed her eyes tight as he worked, flinching as he stitched and at one point even trying to pull her hand away.

"Why weren't you at school?" House asked.

"What?" Hayley opened one eye cautiously, a blush creeping over her otherwise pale cheeks.

"I dropped you off at school this morning, and on Thursdays you don't finish until four; how did you manage to cut yourself with your sister's can opener when you weren't even supposed to be at home?" House finished the final stitch and wrapped a bandage around Hayley's hand.

"I…well…are you done?" Hayley hesitated, hopping off the exam table and then wobbling. House caught her just before she fainted.

* * *

Hayley woke up in the exam room, feeling nauseous and with a dull throbbing pain in her hand. She eased herself into a sitting position and spied House sitting in the corner, resting lazily against the wall with a magazine propped up in front of him.

"Welcome back." House said.

"I fainted?" Hayley surveyed the clean, white bandage that was wrapped around her hand and then grimaced as she saw the bloodstains all over her shirt.

"Yup. You were out for about fifteen minutes. During which time I had a very interesting conversation with your Principal." Hayley's already pale skin turned a shade or two pinker and she stared hard at the floor.

"What did he tell you?" she murmured. House set his magazine on the counter and slid his stool closer to Hayley.

"According to your teachers and the school register you haven't been in school at all this week. Which we both know shouldn't be true since I've dropped you off outside the gates every day." Hayley kept her eyes fixed on the floor. "And then he told me that you've barely had a full day's attendance since you started. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Hayley muttered and House sighed.

"He's already written to Cameron twice about your absences, but for some 'strange' reason she hasn't responded; any idea why that might be?" Hayley was silent. "Fine, don't tell me. I gave him Cameron's contact number in New York, maybe you'll be more willing to tell her why you're skipping class."

"You did what?" Hayley's eyes snapped up and connected with House's. She looked terrified. "Please tell me you didn't give him Allie's number; she'll go nuts!"

"Relax." House said, "Of course I didn't give him her number, she has more than enough to deal with without some dumbass principal who thinks he's God calling her up. But are you gonna tell me what's been going on?" Hayley looked thoughtful for a few moments and House raised an eyebrow.

"I hate it. They treat me like I'm an idiot. Everyone looks at me like I'm an alien instead of just the new kid; someone found out that I was in the hospital so there's loads of rumours going round about me but no-one will ask me to my face and to top it all I'm stuck in classes with total rejects who can barely string two words together."

"Why?" House interrupted.

"I failed their stupid placement tests so according to them I'm a total retard. They act like I barely understand them, when blatantly I do. But I couldn't tell Allie cos I made such a fuss about not going to one of the other places and…"

"-so you figured you just wouldn't go." House finished Hayley's sentence for her.

"I know; it's stupid. But I really hate it. I don't know what to do." House looked at the teenager in front of him; on the verge of tears and for one of the first times in his life he didn't have a witty or sarcastic comeback for her. Instead, what came out of his mouth was a promise;

"We'll figure something out."

* * *

"It _really, really_ hurts." Hayley said into the phone. "We are _so_ buying a new can opener." House rolled his eyes and mouthed 'baby' at her. Hayley stuck out her tongue and then swivelled on the sofa so that he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, I'm at House's apartment now, I'll stay the night here but he is the worst cook in the world so it's definitely only gonna be one night…yeah, just a sec." Hayley held out the phone and House took it.

"Hey, you there?" Cameron asked and House felt something like contentment settle on him just hearing her voice.

"Yeah."

"Is her hand gonna be ok?" she said and House nodded even though she wouldn't be able to see him.

"Seven stitches but it wasn't too deep. How's your mom?" He answered and there was silence on the line.

"I miss you." Cameron finally answered, her voice suddenly clouded by tears. "I thought this might have changed her, you know? Made her realise what she's like but it's like she's gotten worse. I didn't think that was possible." House felt Hayley slide off the sofa and wander out of the room; she had stiffened as soon as he had mentioned the 'M' word and he figured she didn't want to listen in on the conversation.

"Is she still in the hospital?" House asked; when he had spoken to her the day before it had been uncertain whether or not Penny would be able to be discharged just two days after her surgery.

"Came home this afternoon and the first thing she did was tell me off for putting the wrong sheets on her bed. And then for getting her decaf coffee, and then for feeding the plants with regular tap water instead of whatever genetically modified crap she feeds them with so that they 'lost their shine' or some other kind of crap."

"You don't have to stay there, you know." House heard a click on the line before Cameron answered. "You still there?" he asked and Cameron sounded confused,

"What? Of course I'm still here; I can't just leave her."

"You could." House reasoned. "Call and arrange a home help service; pay someone else to suffer what you shouldn't have to."

"House I can't." House opened his mouth to reply but another voice got in first.

"Yes you can."

"Hayley?" House and Cameron said in unison and House looked up to see Hayley settle herself in the armchair; the phone from his office clamped to her ear.

"You can come home. She doesn't need you and she _doesn't_ deserve you."

"Hayley…" Cameron began but a voice in the background interrupted her. "I've got to go; she needs something. I'll try and call you later. Love you." The dialling tone sounded before Hayley or House could answer. They stared at each other for a few minutes and both jumped as the phone rang again. Hayley answered it first, thinking it was Cameron but instead she looked confused.

"Just a second, please." Covering the mouthpiece of the phone she whispered; "It's your mom." House shook his head fervently, mouthing 'not home…shower…anything." Hayley smirked.

"I'm afraid Greg's in the shower at the moment; can I get him to call you back later?" Hayley listened for a few seconds and then giggled. House looked at her as she held the phone out to him.

"She says she knows you aren't in the shower so don't try to avoid her...and she also wants to know why you have a teenager answering your phone."

* * *

A few hours later House and Hayley were settled on the sofa, each with a slice of pizza in their hand and watching 'Gone with the Wind'.

"I still can't believe you have this movie." Hayley said for the third time and House threw a mushroom at her.

"I _told_ you, it was Stacy's – I didn't even know I had it."

"Riight," Hayley drawled, casually flicking a piece of pepper back at him. "You like the pretty dresses, really."

"Shut up." House muttered,

"Why, cos you're trying to watch?" Hayley giggled, but she turned her attention back to the TV just as someone knocked on the door.

"You get it." House told the teenager.

"You get it, it's your door." She answered quickly.

"I have a bad leg," House retorted and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"I _don't_ have a spleen." She laughed as House threw a sofa cushion at her. The person at the door knocked again, louder this time. House gave in and eased himself off the couch, making his way to the door and staring through the peephole before hurriedly unlocking the door and pulling it open.

"Who is it?" Hayley asked, not turning her head away from the TV. When she didn't get an answer she swivelled around on the couch in time to see Cameron throwing her arms around House's neck and kissing him with such force that he stumbled.

* * *

Well? You know the drill...you read and review and I give you something else to read:) Everybody wins. 


	26. Chapter 26

Ok. So the following two chapters may look familiar to some people. That's cos they used to be one chapter (26) but I edited them and put some more stuff in, cos basically I hated what I did and was having trouble writing the continuing chapters. So anyway. Chapter 26 has some 'new' stuff...go forth and read. Then review.

* * *

"Tell me! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me." Hayley bounced around the living room, almost knocking over an already precariously balance vase of flowers. Cameron grabbed it before it toppled and glared at her younger sister. Cameron had been home from New York for two days, but had stubbornly refused to divulge any information as to why she had suddenly returned. Hayley had tried a thousand and one things

"Stop it." Hayley flopped down onto the sofa.

"Why won't you tell me?" she pouted.

"Because it's none of your business." Cameron set the vase safely on top of the coffee table and made her way out of the living room.

"How is it none of my business? She's my mother too. What did she do?" Cameron returned to the living room with a small plastic watering can in her hand.

"Fine, I'll tell you what happened with me and Mom if you tell me what you did instead of going to school all that time." The older sister raised an eyebrow and Hayley blushed. "I thought not." Cameron continued. "Did you change your bandage today?"

"Not yet" Hayley holding out her bandaged hand out for Cameron's observation.

"Does it still hurt?" Cameron asked, peeling the bandage away gently to reveal the neatly stitched but less-angry looking cut along the back of Hayley's hand.

"Yes, it's _agony_. I think I might pass out from the pain." Hayley deadpanned and Cameron shot her a cynical look. "It's fine." Hayley relented.

"You probably don't need the bandage anymore." Cameron agreed absently as she slipped it off, re-rolling it as she went.

"Hey," Hayley mumbled softly. Cameron looked up. "Are you ok?" There was silence for a few seconds before Cameron nodded. She patted Hayley's injured hand lightly.

"I'll be fine."

"Meaning you _aren't_ fine now?" Hayley asked worriedly.

"I'm fine."

* * *

"What made you come home?" House asked and felt Cameron shrug beside him. They had been in bed for almost an hour, talking about their latest patient at the hospital; one of the few they couldn't treat in time. Cameron had been distracted since the patient was admitted and was feeling guilty that they hadn't saved him. House had been trying to get Cameron to talk about New York since she came home but she had been surprisingly unyielding.

"I missed you and Hayley." She answered, repeating what she had told him the night she returned.

"But on the phone you said you _couldn't _leave. What happened to make you change your mind?"

"I'm thirsty; I'll be right back" Cameron replied, shifting into a sitting position and sliding her legs out of bed.

"Don't change the subject." House persisted, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back down next to him.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said, allowing herself to relax against him.

"Cam-" House began but she clamped a hand over his mouth, pressing kisses against his neck. "S'not gonna work." House told her; his voice muffled by her hand.

"Wanna bet?" Cameron muttered. House, perhaps against his better judgement, pulled away from the kiss and looked at her. She tried to avoid his eyes, wriggling.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm home now, that's all that matters, right?"

"Wrong." House replied immediately and Cameron looked hurt. "No, I mean, it's great that you're home, really. But you aren't yourself. Whatever happened was serious and I'm…" House stopped mid-sentence and Cameron felt her butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"You're what?" she asked quietly, her voice barely audible against his chest.

"I'm worried about you, ok? You barely sleep, hardly eat, and won't even contemplate talking about New York. You're in a daze, and I'm worried about you. Is that so wrong?" Cameron ducked her head, so that she was tucked against House's side. He felt her breathing against him and ran a hand gently along her arm. "Cameron?"

"Please don't." She whispered, her breath tickling against him.

"Don't what? Worry about you?" She didn't answer but he felt her begin to shake slightly. He cupped his hand under her arm and pulled her up so that they were face-to-face. Cameron's eyes were filled with tears and her bottom lip trembled. She tried to pull away but House held on, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"I don't want you to worry about me." She told him, her voice soft.

"So stop giving me a reason to worry." House scolded, releasing his grip slightly and allowing Cameron to sink down next to him. He smoothed her hair gently, not speaking. After a few minutes, silent except for their breathing he felt a tear fall against his skin. Inwardly he groaned, hating himself for pushing her. She brought her arm up and across him, clinging desperately. House wrapped his own arm around her, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her.

"You don't have to tell me what happened..." He finally said. Cameron sighed deeply, trying to stop herself from crying. House kissed the top of her head, breathing in the smell of her shampoo; the expensive fruit one she snapped at Hayley for using. That was another way he knew something bad had happened in New York; Cameron hadn't told Hayley about it.

"I wish I could, House…" she whispered, and he kissed her again.

"It's ok."

"I'm just not ready to talk about it. She hurt me and if I try to talk about it I'll cry so much I won't be able to stop so I just need to stop thinking about it and maybe when it hurts less I can tell you." Cameron said in one breath.

"I'm here when you're ready." He promised.

"I know."

* * *

If you think it sucks, I have a doctor's note which proves I have tonsilitis and am on very strong drugs. I blame them... If you don't think it sucks, TELL ME:D 


	27. Chapter 27

_3 months later…_

"We should get going." Cameron said reluctantly, signalling to the waiter to bring the check. House had taken her to dinner at her favourite restaurant, in what he insisted wasn't a celebration of their three month anniversary but just a regular date. Cameron had humoured him but was still delighted when he had come to the door with a bouquet of her favourite flowers. House looked at her. She was wearing a white blouse with a knee-length baby blue skirt and he didn't think she could have looked more beautiful.

"Stay at my place tonight." He said, a statement rather than a question.

"I can't, I said I'd drop Hayley into school early tomorrow; she has a math test." Hayley had been attending the most prestigious school in Princeton for the past two and a half months and after a few initial hiccups was doing well. She had made some good friends and was enjoying her new life, though Cameron knew she still missed her old one in New York. At least, she missed her old friends. Cameron had refused to tell House _or_ Hayley why she had left her mother so abruptly but neither of the Cameron sisters had had any contact with their mother since Cameron's sudden return three months before.

"Why don't you stay at mine?" Cameron asked and House shook his head as the waiter placed the check on the table between them. House shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," House muttered almost childishly, reaching to take the check as Cameron raised an eyebrow.

"You normally want to stay at my place, why's tonight different?" she persisted but House didn't answer. Instead he busied himself by browsing through his credit cards and leisurely selecting one to pay the check with. Nodding to the waiter he turned his attention back to Cameron.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Cameron threw her balled-up napkin at him and House grinned.

"I just thought it would be a nice change, that's all."

"You don't do nice." She replied, suspicious, and House tried to look offended. "Fine!" Cameron laughed, standing slowly and holding her hand out to him. "I'll call Hayley from the car and tell her that I'll pick her up early. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." House dead-panned but his mouth curled up slightly at the corner and betrayed him. He slipped his arm around Cameron's waist and they walked out of the restaurant.

* * *

Later that night, as they lay in bed, House traced patterns slowly up and down Cameron's arm. She squirmed against him.

"It tickles!"

"It's meant to." House replied, but he stopped the movement and rested his hand gently on her arm. "You know, there is a simple way to fix this." Immediately Cameron tensed, turning to face him.

"Fix what?" House gestured around him with his free hand.

"This…arrangement. Who's sleeping at whose apartment without worrying about not having clothes for the next day or getting Hayley to school. There's a way to fix it." Cameron felt her stomach jump excitedly but managed not to let say anything. She nodded slightly for him to continue. "We could move in together." Cameron just barely resisted the urge to jump on top of him, instead answering simply. "Sure, your place or mine?" She asked, before snuggling down beside him with her head on his chest. House was more than a little stunned.

"Sure?" He mouthed to himself. He had been expecting her to protest, about uprooting Hayley or the consequences at work and have prepared a mental list of pros and cons to every possible argument she could have had. He had even gone to the trouble of asking Hayley various questions on the occasions he had been delegated drop-off duty. He hadn't exactly been subtle about it but Hayley seemed to be all for the idea of Cameron and House living together. He smirked.

"Much as I like my place," House intoned, "Your place is a two bedroom. Something tells me Hayley wouldn't really want to move into my office."

"Probably not. You realise this means we're gonna need to tell people at work…" Cameron replied with a hint of a question in her voice. House allowed his fingers to trace patterns once again.

"Yeah. But we don't need to think about that just now, do we?" His voice was full of suggestion and Cameron twisted so that she was staring up at him with her chin resting delicately on his chest. She raised her eyebrow.

"What would you rather be thinking about?"

* * *

"I never thought House would have this much stuff." Hayley complained as she shifted an armful of medical textbooks from the shelf into a packing box. "Is it even gonna fit in the apartment?" Cameron glanced at her sister, drawing her attention from the dust-covered medical antiques on the top shelf.

"He doesn't have _that_ much. Most of the furniture is staying for Wilson." House had transferred the lease of his apartment to the oncologist and was just moving 'the important stuff'; like his TV and stereo system. "Some of it looks pretty cool though, like this;" Cameron continued, proffering a scary looking hook-shaped instrument.

"You have a weird boyfriend" Hayley grimaced and Cameron laughed. The noise from his office had finally intrigued House enough that he had had to investigate, and he entered the office with a bemused look on his face.

"I never knew packing could be fun." He said, carefully removing the antique from Cameron's hands and placing it delicately on a pile of papers on his desk. Cameron opened her mouth to protest that she was perfectly capable of 'handling with care' when something written on one of the top papers caught her eye. She reached out and gently lifted the instrument; pulling out a sheet of paper with an impressive looking letterhead.

"What's this?" Immediately House's stature changed. He tensed and tried to pluck the letter from her hands but Cameron was already quickly scanning the information, holding it just out of his reach. "Were you going to tell me about this?" Hayley paused, noting the almost angry tone in her sister's voice. She hadn't heard Cameron get angry in months, the last time had been after their mother's accident and their fight about Cameron going to New York.

Hayley slowly placed the books she was holding down onto the desk and crept out of the room. She made it to the living room before hearing Cameron's raised voice.

"What do you mean it's nothing? We're moving in together, how could you just decide something like this without me?!" Hayley could barely hear House's answer but the muffled words she made out were angry and insistent. The sound of palm hitting cheek carried through to the lounge and Hayley winced as Cameron whirled out of House's office. Her face was streaked with tears and she snapped, "We're leaving' as she grabbed her coat and purse off the sofa. Hayley stood motionless, staring at House who was stood in the doorway of his office. A reddened palm print was stark on his cheek but he was silent as Cameron yanked open the front door.

"Hayley, we're leaving. Go get in the car." The younger sister opened her mouth to protest but Cameron was already in the hallway. "Now Hayley!" Hayley flinched at the harshness of her sister's voice and looked towards House for support. He gestured resignedly towards the door, still silent and Hayley followed her sister.

The car was already running when Hayley left the apartment building. The few boxes that had already been packed and loaded into the trunk were stood on the sidewalk outside House's front door and Cameron had the engine running. Hayley slipped into the front seat, hardly daring to look at her sister as Cameron pulled away from the kerb.

* * *

"Wateva u did, fix it. NOW." House sighed as he re-read Hayley's most recent text message. It was the sixth one she had sent him, the other five read along the same lines. He correctly assumed that Cameron hadn't divulged the details of their fight and was too ashamed to share the details but had no idea how to do as Hayley suggested. He knew that what he had said to Cameron was out of line but a part of him wished she would have just dropped the subject when he told her to.

House surveyed the letter as his cell-phone bleeped again. _'Beaufort Medical Center'_ announced the letterhead. His eyes flickered over the letter, scanning the words he had already studied dozens of times since it had dropped onto his doormat a few weeks before. Some doctor at the Beaufort was running a medical trial of the Ketamine treatment he had been given after he was shot. Doctor Mary Ramos wanted to put him in a coma for six days and monitor his levels of pain relief over a 'sustained period of time'. As she had said in her letter, given House's notoriety as a diagnostician he would be a perfect poster child for the programme.

He had seriously considered accepting the invitation, not least because Dr. Ramos's flattery boosted his ego but also because she presented a convincing argument. He wanted nothing more than to be free of pain again but reading between the lines of the letter it was clear that the trial wasn't going to work. House had been a doctor long enough to know what was going to help a patient and though it almost killed him to do it he had turned down the place.

The cell phone bleeped again and House picked it up. "You're a jerk." The text message read. Right at that moment, House thought, he couldn't agree more.

* * *

A "real" update is on its way...sometime soon. I've kind of been busy. Sorry a thousand times over. Promise the next chapter will be make up for it.


	28. Chapter 28

A thousand and one apologies for the ridiculously long time it has taken me to update. Well, there was that remix thing I did with the last two chapters but THIS is a REAL, NEW chapter. And it's Chapter 28, whic is strange cos I didn't see this lasting more than ten or so chapters so, Hooray for everyone who reviewed and has helped me drag this out.

I feel like I should stick a warning on this chapter; House/Cameron shippers are likely to hate me. BUT BUT BUT remember, you love me really and I have the power to fix it, so be nice :D

* * *

The loud rapping at his door startled House from a somewhat unpleasant daydream. He shifted uncomfortably, understanding why Wilson had never lasted more than two weeks on his couch. For a brief moment he thought of the ridiculously comfortable bed he and Cameron should have been sharing, before being shocked back into reality by further knocking on the door. He heaved himself off of the couch, rubbing his back, and unhooked his cane from the end table.

"Keep your hair on." He groaned, peeping through the spy hole and rolling his eyes. He flipped the latch on the door and stood back to let a sweating Dr. Wilson enter the apartment. "You know, since it's now _your _name on the rental agreement, you might want to think about using your key." He groused. Wilson had signed forms taking on the lease of House's apartment mere hours before House and Cameron's fight; and though Wilson had tried to renege on the agreement House had, for reasons unknown to the both of them, insisted that Wilson should stay. And even more unbelievably, he had allowed Wilson to take the bedroom while he suffered on the couch.

"I went for a run." Wilson panted. "Did you know there's a park just a few blocks from here?"

"Since when did you 'go for a run'?" House remarked, trying not to remember the few weeks when he had been the one jogging for hours; marvelling in the pain-free state.

"Since I found out that the _really_ hot redhead from the grocery store likes to run in the mornings."

"Riight." House drawled, shuffling to the couch and grabbing the remote.

"Not going to work _again_?" Wilson asked over the not-so-dulcet tones of Spongebob Squarepants. The only reply was a half-hearted shrug. "You have to face her sometime House." Wilson persisted, and House pressed the volume button on the remote.

* * *

"No House again?" Foreman asked to no-one in particular. There was a sarcastic tint to his voice; House had been out 'sick' for three days. Chase shrugged before going back to his crossword but Cameron's head snapped up from her laptop, where she had been reading House's emails. "Do we even know why he's out?" Foreman continued, speaking to no-one in particular.

"What am I, House's damn personal assistant?" she snapped. Chase looked shocked, while Foreman seemed more intrigued. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Cameron continuing; "Who cares where he is, it's not like he ever does any work and we don't have a case so-"

"Actually, we do." House's voice reverberated around the glass-walled office and Cameron flushed a deep crimson colour. House waved his hand, proffering three copies of their patient's latest file. Chase moved forward to take one, browsing. It had been three weeks since their last patient and clinic hours only provided a certain amount of mental stimulation. Foreman was slower, noting the way that Cameron was tapping irritably on the desk with her fingernails and House's almost reserved facial expression. He reached and took his copy of the file; deliberately leaving Cameron's copy in House's hand. Foreman moved to a seat at the table, adjacent to Chase who was already absorbed in the patient history. He opened the file and pretended to read the contents but his eyes were really focused on House and Cameron.

House was still stood in the doorway, looking as much unlike himself as Foreman thought possible. Cameron on the other hand was seated at the computer desk, shoulders squared and with a face like thunder. Something had gone on between them; that was for certain. In fact, a week ago one of the nurses had been convinced she had seen Cameron and House together at the movies but then a few days ago House had suddenly started to call in sick and Cameron had taken to storming around the conference room and snapping at anyone who mentioned House's name or worse, asked her where he was.

"I'm due at the clinic." Cameron said, standing slowly. Her voice was clipped and her tone implied that no-one should argue if they wanted to keep all their body-parts in the right place. House shrugged resignedly and moved aside, allowing her to pass by him.

Foreman raised an eyebrow at House, who didn't react. Instead he dropped Cameron's file onto the table and made his back out of the conference room, calling over his shoulder.

"Run whatever tests you want. If you kill or cure the patient, go home." Chase raised his head, bemused.

"Did he just give us free reign?" he asked Foreman. "Hey, where did Cameron go?"

"Clinic." Foreman replied, rolling his eyes at Chase's ignorance.

* * *

Cameron couldn't concentrate. In the three days since she and House had 'broken up' she had almost managed to convince herself that she wasn't devastated. She had almost stopped crying herself to sleep; last night she had managed it right until she turned over and saw the other side of the bed; his side of the bed, empty and cold. Hayley had tried to get her to call House and give him a chance to explain why he had turned down the treatment from the Beaufort Medical Center but Cameron had refused. Obviously House didn't care about her enough to want to get healthy, so she tried to persuade herself that she didn't care about him either. Unfortunately for Cameron, convincing yourself that you didn't love someone wasn't as easy as she needed it to be.

* * *

She flipped the lock on the exam room door and leaned back against it, willing the tears not to fall. Several deep breaths later and she felt her shoulders stop shaking, and after a few moments concentrating on inconsequential details such as when she had to pick up her dry-cleaning, she managed to pull herself together.

"You can do this." She told herself, pulling open the door and preparing to greet her next patient. Stood a few inches away from the door, though, was House.

"Don't run away from me." He muttered; he was almost pleading with her and Cameron felt her resolve begin to weaken.

"I'm working House. You should be too. Who's next?" The final part of her sentence was addressed to the nurse on duty, who pointed to a three year old girl who was currently whimpering in her father's arms. Cameron turned to smile, and direct the father into the exam room but House moved into her line of vision.

"Please. You have to-" House's voice was so desperate that Cameron weakened and moved aside; smiling apologetically to the three-year-old's father and allowing House into the exam room.

* * *

"Five minutes, and then I have to treat a patient." Cameron stood with her arms crossed, staring at House. He was leaning with his back against the counter that lined the exam room wall; concentrating hard on the clock on the opposite wall. He didn't speak.

"Clock's ticking, House!" Cameron snapped, seconds later mentally berating herself when she saw his shoulders sag.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, standing up straight and walking to the door. He placed his hand on the door handle to open it. Cameron was practically speechless.

"That's it?" she demanded. "Three days of nothing and that's it?! Sorry? Do you even know what you're sorry for?" House didn't turn to face her, instead he shrugged and Cameron felt three days worth of anger boiling through her.

"You don't! You don't even know why you're supposed to be sorry; you think you can just come in here and I'll be so grateful that you're _sorry_ that everything will suddenly be ok?"

"No I don't think that!" House suddenly burst out, his hand still on the door handle. "Of course it's not just going to be ok, but I … I said things and I hurt you. I miss you." House's voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence as he turned around to see Cameron's steely expression. There was silence for a few seconds; though they felt like minutes or even hours, and then from Cameron's mouth came an explosion of anger and devastation.

"You think what you said _hurt_ me? I can hardly stand to look at you! It wasn't even what you said, God knows you've said far worse to me over the years; remember our first date? The whole spiel about how 'damaged' I am and how I didn't want you, I _needed_ you? It's not what you said, it's what you _did_, House. Or didn't do, more to the point. Turning down that treatment offer showed me that you really don't give a _damn_ about anyone or anything. _That_ hurt, House."

She took a deep breath and continued in the same vein, her voice raised and determined; "We were moving in together, we were supposed to be starting a life together and you couldn't even bring yourself to give the treatment a chance! You know how well the ketamine treatment worked the first time, you could have had that again, you could have been _happy_ but NO! You're too stuck in your own stupid, _selfish_ ways. I was in_ love _with you and I thought you loved me but I was wrong. You don't love me, you love being manipulative, and offensive and having people excuse your actions because you're in _pain_. You don't love me, you love _Vicodin_ and you proved it when you turned down the chance to get your life back."

Cameron stepped backwards, breathing heavily. House stared at her. Her face was flushed and her eyes were watery; she was trying not to cry. House folded his fingers around the door-handle and turned it; pulling the door open and walking out into the clinic waiting room. The dozen or so patients who were waiting stared, open-mouthed at the object of the tirade they had just heard.

Several hospital employees were stood at the nurse's station; not just nurses but the other doctor doing clinic duty and a hospital cleaner. As House made his way through the silent room he couldn't even make it seem like he didn't care about them watching him. There was no witty remark or nonchalant shrug; nothing. He hobbled past them all, not stopping until he reached the elevators. He pressed the call button and almost instantly the doors opened. If House had truly believed in a God, he would have thanked Him that the elevator was empty. He stepped in, hung his cane on the rail that ran around the wall and stood in silence before pressing the emergency stop button.

He took a breath, and then pounded his fist against the elevator wall with as much force as he could muster.

* * *

Like I said, the shippers hate me. But I need lots and lots and lots of reviews or I won't fix it :P 


	29. Chapter 29

Hopefully updates will become more regular now; I have finally gotten my life back so am able to do things I enjoy (like writing) instead of things I don't. Here's chapter 29!

* * *

Dr. Cuddy knocked quickly on the office door. She waited for a few impatient seconds until she heard the low voice reply; 'come in'. Cuddy pushed the door open and entered the room. When he saw who was in his office, Dr. Wilson looked confused. Then, noting the flustered expression on his boss's face he set down the file he was writing in. 

"What did House do now?" he asked, knowing that the only person who could possibly get Cuddy in such a state was the diagnostician who sometimes posed as his best friend. Cuddy sank into the chair opposite Wilson and leaned forwards, resting her elbows on the desk that separated them.

"How long have House and Cameron been seeing each other?"

* * *

Cameron sat shakily on the stool in the exam room. The three year old in front of her sniffed anxiously as Cameron slipped on a pair of latex gloves.

"Ok Hannah, can you roll your sleeve up for me?" she asked, her voice quaking. Hannah's father looked dubious, but reached out and helped when the little girl couldn't manage by herself. An angry looking bruise wrapped around Hannah's skinny wrist and Cameron could tell at first glance that it was broken.

"I'm fairly certain it's broken but I'll need to get an x-ray to be sure." Cameron told the father, but at the word 'broken', Hannah – who had been sitting sniffling quietly, suddenly burst into renewed tears. Her father tried to comfort her but as he tried to hug the little girl he accidentally knocked her wrist. The little girl's pained cries filled the room and Cameron felt her own tears well up. Desperate, Hannah's father looked at Cameron.

"Can't you at least give her something for the pain?" Cameron was unable to answer. She got blindly to her feet, stumbling to the door and wrenching it open.

"Pain relief and an x-ray for the toddler in one." She managed to tell the first nurse she saw, before making an uncertain path towards the exit of the hospital. It wasn't until she reached her car and tried to get into it that she realised she had left her bag, and her car keys, in the conference room. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because as she slid helplessly into a heap by the side of her car, she was really in no state to drive.

* * *

House stared down into the parking lot. After Cameron's outburst in the clinic and his subsequent destruction of the wall-panel in the elevator he had taken refuge on the roof; fairly certain that no-one would think to look for him there. He was, after all, still a cripple. 

Several floors below him, Cameron was dragging herself to her feet. Even from the distance, House could tell she was still crying, and she was exhausted. He sighed as she wiped her face, brushing away the mascara he knew would have smudged underneath her eyes. He didn't have a clue how he was supposed to fix this. Maybe Cameron was right, and he really did only love Vicodin, and did enjoy the fact that his leg gave him the excuse to be a jerk whenever he wanted. But if that was true, why did he feel like he was empty?

Glancing down at the parking lot House saw that Cameron wasn't by her car anymore. She must have gone to the conference room, he reasoned. He had seen her try the car door and then slam her hand down on the car roof when she realised that she didn't have her purse. He wondered if she knew she had done that, but was willing to bet that she didn't. Cameron wasn't an angry person, she wasn't violent. Yet, in the space of a week he had made her yell more than he had ever heard before. In more than four months of living with her sister he had barely even heard her raise her voice, and he knew that before the other day when her palm had collided with his cheek; he knew that before that she had never raised her hand to anybody. She had always said, right from day one, that she hated violence.

Maybe she was better off without him, if he made her act like someone she hated.

* * *

"Four months?!" Cuddy was incredulous, and had been pacing around Wilson's office for the past few minutes repeating the same words over and over again. "How can it be four months?" Wilson looked at her. 

"It started when Cameron's sister was a patient."

"How is it possible that I didn't know about this?" Cuddy sat down opposite Wilson. He shrugged.

"They were good at keeping it a secret." He suggested and Cuddy almost laughed.

"This is _House_ we're talking about. He doesn't do secrets. He's like a little kid and when he's got something, he makes sure everyone knows about it!" Wilson shook his head.

"Not when it's something he wants to keep."

"They were serious, then?" While Cuddy and the surrounding crowd had been able to make out most of what Cameron had yelled at House, some of the details were still uncertain. Cuddy, like most of the staff who had gathered to listen were just shocked at the sound of Dr. Cameron raising her voice; and to her boss no less.

"I think he was actually in love with her. He was moving into her apartment anyway…"

"But he hasn't been acting any differently. _They_ haven't been acting any differently."

"Like I said, House is good at keeping a secret, if it's something he really wants to keep."

* * *

"You're home early!" Hayley called from her bedroom. She hadn't been expecting Cameron until at least seven, and it was barely after four now. She heard the front door slam shut, and the noises that signified Cameron hanging up her coat and kicking off her shoes. Cameron didn't answer and it was only when Hayley made her way through to the living room that she realised why. Cameron was curled on the sofa, clutching a pillow to herself and sobbing quietly. 

"Oh Allie…" Hayley sat down on the sofa next to her. "He came back to work." Cameron nodded.

"We had a fight. In the clinic and now everyone knows. God, I'm so _stupid_."

"Allie, don't." Hayley reached out and touched Cameron's arm. Cameron looked at her little sister, seeing her properly for the first time.

"What are you doing home so early? Why are you dressed like that?" Hayley's cheeks blushed flame-red; contrasting against the white tank-top she was wearing. Cameron was right to notice that Hayley's attire was unusual; she was also wearing grey sweat pants. "And your hair's all mussed up and your make-up's smudged. Do you have someone here?"

"No." Hayley instantly responded but her eyes avoided her sister's.

"Hayley, what's going on?" Cameron swung her legs off the sofa and began to walk towards Hayley's bedroom. The door was shut but Hayley jumped in front of it.

"Allie, it's not like it looks."

"What isn't like it looks?" Cameron demanded, trying to get to the door.

"He just came down for the day, to surprise me! I know you said I should check with you first but he turned up and we haven't seen each other for ages and it just happened!"

"Move." Cameron commanded. Hayley reluctantly stepped aside and allowed Cameron to open the door. Sitting on Hayley's bed, fully clothed but with several buttons on his shirt undone, was Hayley's boyfriend Jake. Cameron turned her head to look at her sister. Hayley opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by a scathing look.

"Jake, while I'm sure you had only the greatest intentions coming down here unannounced, now is really not the best time. Hayley will call you later." Jake stood up and grabbed his bag from where it had been discarded on the floor. He skulked past Cameron and nodded towards Hayley. She mouthed something back at him and then grimaced at the sight of her fuming big sister.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" she asked as Cameron shut the front door. 

"When you first moved in here we agreed that Jake could come down on weekends, if you asked me first. Today is not a weekend, and you didn't ask-"

"I didn't know he was coming! He just turned up on the doorstep with a bunch of flowers and said he was missing me!"

"So why didn't you go out somewhere? You could have gone to the movies or something. You know the rules, Hayley." Cameron was almost shouting now, and Hayley was trying not to yell back at her.

"Of course I know the rules, and for your information we _did_ go to the movies, and then we went for coffee and _then_ we went for a walk and it was only after all that that we came back here."

"You skipped school?"

"Yes, I skipped school!" Hayley half-spat out. "I've barely seen him for the past four months and I'm not just going to say 'hey, sorry I have to go to school now' when he turns up on the doorstep!"

"That's exactly what you should have said! If he's waited for you for four months then he could have waited for you for another few hours; during which time you could have called me to ask if it was ok for him to stay here!" Cameron was yelling now, and Hayley looked outraged.

"What are you really mad about, _Cameron_? Could it possibly be that you're jealous?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous." Cameron's tone was dismissive but her already reddened cheeks flushed a darker shade of red.

"You are! You're jealous that _my_ boyfriend is willing to drive several hours, out of state, to come and surprise me while _your_ boyfriend can barely even manage to consult you about some stupid treatment."

"That's not what this is about Hayley!" Cameron yelled, livid that Hayley had managed to figure it out so quickly.

"Yes it is. You're pissed off that _I'm_ getting laid and you aren't. Well, I'm _sorry_ that your boyfriend is a jerk. And I'm _sorry_ that you had a crappy day at work but go and bite someone else's head off cos it's NOT MY FREAKIN' FAULT!" And with that final outburst Hayley shot into her room; slamming the door behind her. Cameron stood, stunned for a few moments and jumped when Hayley burst out of her room and barged past her. Only the sound of the front door slamming loudly was enough to shake her into her reverie, but by the time she got to the door and stared down the corridor, Hayley was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

I forgot to say earlier; this chapter is for spacecadet1922. Basically, cos she asked me for it - I hope you enjoyed it :D 


	30. Chapter 30

For spacecadet1922, again. Cos apparently when she tells me to do things, I actually do them. Weird, but it gets chapters written so there we go. Chapter 30!!!

* * *

Cameron flipped through her address book, landing on an entry in Hayley's loopy handwriting. A few weeks after Hayley had started her second school in Princeton Cameron had insisted that Hayley put all her new friends into Cameron's address book – just in case, she had said when Hayley asked why. Cameron ran her finger over the address before dialling the phone she held in her other hand. 

"Hi, can I speak to Jessica please?" she asked, and a few seconds later; "Hi, Jessica this is Allison Cameron – I'm Hayley's sister. Sorry to bother you, but Hayley isn't with you, is she?" When the confused teenager on the other end of the phone answered no, Cameron bit her lip.

"Thanks anyway." Cameron hung up the phone. Jessica had been the last on Cameron's list of people to call; Hayley had only included about six people in Cameron's address book and had subsequently crossed one of them out after a fight at the bowling alley. Apparently the other girl had made a comment which offended Hayley, and amazing, considering Hayley was still at that time regarded as 'the new girl', the rest of the group had sided with her.

As rain began to pelt against the windows, Cameron wracked her brain, trying to think who else Hayley might have gone to. Jake had been the obvious choice; Cameron had immediately assumed that Hayley had chased after him but one call to Jake's cell had told her otherwise. And now to add to her own worry, Jake was driving aimlessly around Princeton in the hopes of randomly spotting her. Of course, there was one obvious choice but Cameron was certain Hayley wouldn't have gone to House.

* * *

"I'm not talking to you." 

"Funny, cos you're standing on my doorstep." House replied to Hayley's statement. Hayley was, indeed, standing in the doorway of his apartment; soaked through in grey sweatpants topped with her boyfriend's NYU sweater and dripping rainwater on the floor.

"Actually, I'm standing on _Wilson's_ doorstep." House leant against the doorjamb and regarded the teenager curiously. Aside from the dozen or so text messages he had received on the day of his and Cameron's fight, Hayley hadn't contacted him, not even to ask for help with a science project he knew she hadn't started yet.

"Wilson isn't here." House told her and she rolled her eyes. Barging past him to enter the apartment, House heard her voice as she made her way through to the kitchen. "I'll wait."

House shrugged as he used his cane to push the front door shut.

"We had a fight." Hayley called through from the kitchen; her voice raised to carry over the noise of the microwave. Moments later she joined House in the living room, carefully holding a tray. Balanced precariously on top of it were two bowls of soup. She set the tray down on the coffee table and handed a bowl to House. He stared at her, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I'm hungry but I'm not rude." They ate their soup in companionable silence and once finished, Hayley took House's bowl from him and took them both into the kitchen. When he heard the noise of the water running in the sink he decided he had had enough of the silence and heaved himself off the sofa to join her.

"You and Cameron don't fight." He said, taking the wet bowl from Hayley's outstretched hand and grabbing a dishtowel from the side.

"Apparently, now we do." Hayley set the second bowl down on the drainer and stared at him. Tears were welling in her eyes, but her next action was unexpected. In one swift motion she raised a hand and slapped him hard across the face. House was so taken aback that he dropped the bowl and both of them jumped away as pieces of broken ceramic skittered across the kitchen floor.

"What the _hell_ was that for?" House demanded angrily.

"I have never in my _life_ had a fight with my sister, not until today." Hayley's voice was low, and thick with tears.

"How is that my fault?" House nursed his reddened cheek. Apparently as well as being a virtual clone of her sister in looks and personality, Hayley could hit like her sister.

"BECAUSE YOU BROKE HER HEART!" Hayley shouted.

* * *

"I broke her heart?" House asked, cautiously, holding out a tissue. Hayley nodded and took the tissue from him; scrubbing at her face. After yelling at House, Hayley had broken down in tears, so much so that House hadn't known what to do. He had cautiously guided her through the kitchen over the mess of broken crockery into the living room and installed her on the sofa to sob while he cleared up the mess. 

"She's a mess. And I didn't help." Hayley mumbled; her voice so quiet that House had to strain to hear her. "Jake came down from New York today. I didn't know he was coming but I skipped school to spend the day with him and then Allie came home early and we were…well, _you know_. And she flipped out at me and practically kicked Jake out of the apartment and then we had this huge fight and I was so _horrible_."

"I broke her heart?" House repeated.

"Are you even listening? I was horrible to her, she's never going to forgive me." Hayley spoke with the incredulous tone of a seventeen-year old. Suddenly, House began to laugh. It was slow and hesitant at first but gradually; to Hayley's great consternation, the laughter grew louder and stronger until she was convinced House had finally cracked.

"What is the matter with you?" She yelled at him. "I tell you that you broke my sister's heart and you _laugh_? Are you really that twisted?"

"I'm not laughing about that. I'm … I don't know why I'm laughing. You seriously think that after one tiny fight you're gonna lose your sister? Cameron is probably running round Princeton now, frantic that you're standing on a bridge or something. I, on the other hand; well. Let's just say if I was on the bridge I think she'd be willing to push."

"Don't be ridiculous." Hayley snapped. House turned to face her and stretched out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Pot; I'm Kettle." Hayley stared, open-mouthed at him.

"Are you on drugs? Did you take something?" House shook his head, clearing his throat.

"Look. There is no way that you are going to lose your sister after one stupid fight. You aren't me."

"She still loves you."

"You didn't hear her in the clinic today."

"Did you guys have a fight?" House made a noise that might have been a laugh or a sob. He rubbed his hand over his face.

"A fight generally has two people; this was Cameron letting loose. And at least a dozen nurses, plus Cuddy, heard her so I'm fairly certain that the whole hospital now knows we were together."

"Is that why she left early?"

"Probably. She wasn't exactly in a fit state to work." Hayley was sure she heard guilt in House's voice, which didn't register if it had been Cameron who had done all the talking. Or yelling.

"What did she say?"

"I apologised for saying…something-"

"For saying that her you 'weren't her dead husband, you were House and if she thought she could fix you she was sadly mistaken cos she wasn't that good a doctor'?" Hayley interrupted. House winced at the memory of his words.

"She just flipped. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen before. I mean, yeah; I've seen Cameron get mad, hell, I've gotten Cameron mad more times than I'd care to count but this wasn't just angry, this was furious and hurt and…it was like she was broken. I broke her heart."

"So fix it."

* * *

An hour later, there was a knock on the door. House heaved himself off the sofa, carefully so as not to disturb Hayley; who had just dozed off in front of a made-for-TV movie. 

"Dammit Wilson," House grumbled as he made his way to the door, "If you don't start using your key so help me I'll-" As he swung the door open House stopped short. Standing on the doorstep, with her eyes red from tears, was Cameron. She took a deep breath.

"Is she here?" she asked and House stood back to allow her a better view of the room. "Thank God. I tried everyone." Cameron stepped into the apartment and moved in front of Hayley, placing a hand on the younger girl's and gently shaking her awake.

"Hayley? Wake up, I'm taking you home." Hayley opened her eyes and stared at Cameron.

"You look like hell." She mumbled and Cameron sniffed back her tears.

"I know. Let's get you home." Hayley uncurled herself from the sofa and allowed herself to be shepherded out of the apartment. At the door, House reached out and took hold of Cameron's arm. She paused for a second and he opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it when he realised that he didn't have a clue what on earth he could possibly say to make any of it better.

* * *

And there we go... 


	31. Chapter 31

If you don't like it blame spacecadet1922, cos it was her idea. Please read and review!

* * *

A week had passed since Cameron and House's fight, and Cameron and Hayley's subsequent argument. Cameron and Hayley were back on speaking terms, and had been since the day after Hayley sought refuge with House. But for Cameron and House, things were decidedly less amicable. Thanks to Cameron's rage in the clinic, the entire hospital now knew that the infamously bad-tempered diagnostician and his only female employee had been involved in what some called an 'illicit affair' and what others simply referred to as a 'secret relationship.'

But regardless of terminology, Cameron was now having to put up with knowing looks from almost every doctor, nurse or other hospital employee. Foreman and Chase were shocked that they hadn't noticed anything different between their boss and their colleague; Foreman more annoyed than Chase, who was simply bewildered. Cameron had refused to divulge any details, however, and House had spent the minimal amount of time with his employees; only joining them in the conference room for differential diagnoses and not playing his usual games.

They had only had one patient, where ironically the diagnosis was lupus. Cameron had almost wanted to gloat, and there had been a moment where she caught House looking at her. She had started to speak when he turned his head, and she had promptly silenced herself; later telling herself that it was better that way anyway.

And after an exhausting week she had taken Chase and Foreman up on their recurring offer of a drink at a bar local to the hospital, where she had proceeded to out drink the pair of them whilst talking about the dangers of inter-office relationships. Neither doctor had tried to stop her, reassuring each other that she couldn't come to any harm with them there.

Foreman had driven her home at around 3am and handed her over to a sleepy but irate Hayley. And now, her head was pounding with the effects of a month's work of alcohol in one night and now there was someone poking at her.

* * *

"Get up." Hayley prodded at Cameron's shoulder.

"What?" Cameron shuffled further under the covers, pulling them up over her head. She felt the mattress sink next to her as Hayley clambered onto the bed.

"Get up. Get up, get up, _get up_."

"Hayley…" Cameron warned; her voice muffled under the covers.

"_Aaaaallison_." Slowly Cameron pulled down the duvet and peeked out at her sister.

"You are one _huge_ pain in the ass sometimes." She groaned.

"I know. But you love me anyway. Now get up, we're going shopping."

"What?"

"I'm taking you shopping. Well, technically you're taking yourself shopping but I'm gonna make sure you buy something that is the opposite of sensible."

"Hayley, it's my first proper day off in weeks and the last thing I want to do is shop. I want to sleep."

"You want to wallow." Hayley grabbed the top of the duvet as Cameron tried to pull it back over her head.

"Yes, I want to wallow. I want to stay in bed all day thinking about the pathetic mess I got myself in. I do _not_ want to go shopping."

"You didn't get yourself in a mess. But you are not allowed to wallow. Come on. Go and shower, and then I'll treat you to breakfast."

"You are impossible." Cameron pushed the covers off and swung her legs out of the bed. Sitting up she held a hand to her forehead.

"And you're hung-over." Hayley retorted, holding out her hand. Nestling in her palm were two small white headache pills. Cameron smiled gratefully as she took them from her sister, swallowing them with a sip of water from the glass on her bedside cabinet.

"I'm not hung-over. I just…" She looked sideways at Hayley, who had a look of pure scepticism on her face. "Fine, I'm hung-over."

"I know. Shower, coffee, breakfast then shopping."

"Hayley, I don't want to."

I'm not taking no for an answer. We are going shopping whether you want to or not. _Shower_, now!" Hayley stood up off the bed and grabbed her sister's hands. Reluctantly Cameron stood, one hand pressed against her temple.

"Ow." She groaned as Hayley pulled her from the bedroom to the bathroom.

"Ten minutes." She said, pushing her older sister into the bathroom and pulling the door shut. A few moments later the sound of running water echoed through the door and Hayley made her way to the kitchen.

* * *

"What exactly is the point of this?" Cameron asked, sipping at her coffee.

"It's a shirt, Allie." Hayley answered, virtually ignoring her sister in favour of flirting with a guy sat at a nearby table.

"I know it's a shirt but where are you gonna wear it?"

"I don't know. I probably won't." Hayley smiled and Cameron did a double-take.

"Who are you staring at?" she asked. Hayley blushed.

"No-one. I only bought it cos it was on sale. It'll end up going to Goodwill or something." Hayley tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, eyes still locked on the guy.

"Where did you come from?" Cameron laughed. "And _who_ are you staring at?" She turned around to glance around the coffee shop and spotted the object of Hayley's affections, who quickly looked away from their table with a distinct air of embarrassment around him. "Are you flirting with that guy?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Hayley blushed furiously, staring into the depths of her coffee cup.

"You _are_! What about Jake?"

"Jake and I broke up last week." Hayley replied quietly and Cameron set her coffee cup abruptly on the table between them. The liquid inside splashed up the sides of the cup, but didn't spill over.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Hayley shrugged absently. "Hayley, I'm so sorry." Cameron said.

"It's not your fault. We had a long talk and just…I don't know. We kind of came to an end, I guess."

"But you were…I mean…why?"

"Allie, it just ended, ok? It wasn't the same. So now we're just two single sisters and we have another four hours of shopping time till the stores close so drink up and let's get going!" Clearly Hayley didn't want to talk about it, so Cameron swallowed the last of her coffee quickly and gathered up the bags they had already acquired.

* * *

Hayley's cell-phone chirruped and she reached into her jean pocket. With a quick glance at the caller ID she answered it.

"I can't talk, Allie's getting popcorn."

"Shopping was good then?" House's voice replied down the phone line.

"Yeah, shopping was good. Bought a load of stuff we're never gonna wear but what the hell, she's smiling."

"That's good." House sounded almost wistful, and Hayley hesitated before speaking.

"I have to go, House. But I'll call you tomorrow, ok?" House sighed down the phone, before Hayley heard him disconnect the call.

"Who was that?" Cameron asked, coming into the living room balancing a giant bowl of popcorn in one hand and a handful of DVDs in the other. Hayley slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Jess, wanting to know if we have French homework due on Monday." Cameron shrugged, accepting this as a good reason. She settled onto the sofa next to Hayley.

"What DVD are we gonna watch?"

* * *

I'm so horrible. But it's been a bad week and I wasn't in the mood for a happy ending just yet. 


	32. Chapter 32

Happy Birthday to spacecadet, happy birthday to spacecadet, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to spacecadet...Happy Birthday to yooooooooo!!

* * *

"So what do you think?" Hayley asked through a mouthful of M&Ms. House smirked, tossing a red one high into the air and catching it in his mouth.

"I think you shouldn't talk with your mouth full." He remarked. Hayley threw a handful at him. She was sitting cross legged in one corner of his couch, making her way through a jumbo-sized bag of the candy. Cameron was working a night shift for the team's latest patient so Hayley had snuck over to House's apartment. They had just eaten dinner; leftover pizza, and Hayley had told House the plan she'd thought up.

"Seriously, good plan or bad plan?" House shrugged. "House! Pay attention. Do you think this is going to work?"

"I don't know. Do _you_ think this is going to work?" Hayley kicked him lightly and he pouted.

"Well obviously _I_ think it'll work it's my plan. But it _won't_ work if you don't get off your ass."

"Nice language." House muttered.

"I learned from the best," Hayley retorted. "What is wrong with you? You asked me to figure out a way to get my sister to forgive you and I did it. Why are you being such a loser?" House was silent. "Do you even want her back?" Hayley goaded him.

"Of course I want her back!" House exploded and Hayley jumped at the volume and force of his voice. She grinned widely. "So you're gonna do it?" House waited a few seconds, and nodded.

* * *

A knock on the door drew Cuddy's attention away from her paperwork. She glanced up, expecting to see her 1 o'clock appointment – a potential benefactor for the hospital with a particular interest in the Oncology department. Instead, House was stood waiting at the door, pretending to be absorbed in the painting that hung to the left of the door. Confused she waved him in, setting aside her paperwork as he ambled through the door. Never in her time working with House had he ever knocked and waited to be allowed entrance to her office. It was almost worrying.

"House…" She began, but he interrupted her.

"I need some time off." He said. Cuddy gestured for him to sit down, but House shook his head. "I need a minimum of two weeks, but if you can give me four I'd…I'd be grateful." Cuddy hadn't spoken to House since his incident with Cameron in the clinic and the only information she had was gleaned second hand from Wilson. Even that wasn't much, since the oncologist was being depressingly loyal to his friend. All Cuddy, and anyone else, knew, was that House and Cameron had been dating for almost four months, and were about to move into together when House did something to screw it up. No-one knew what the thing was, since both House and Cameron were adamant they didn't want to discuss it and no-one dared to mention the hottest hospital gossip within fifty feet of either of its subjects.

"Am I allowed to ask why?" Cuddy questioned and House shook his head, a hint of a smile – the first she had seen in days – toying on his lips. Cuddy thought for a moment.

"When do you want it to start?"

"I have to be…Monday?" House stopped himself before he gave away his secrets and looked at his boss. She looked worried, and was trying to cover it up with that steely look she often had. "The team can handle any cases we have. They're all grown-up doctors with the long lab-coats now."

You have approximately nine weeks of vacation time owed to you. Take your time." House nodded and made his way out of her office. When she saw him safely in the hospital lobby she lifted her phone and dialled Wilson's office.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Chase asked. House, balancing his cane in the palm of his hand, barely paid attention to him. Though he kept his attention was on his balancing act, he could see Cameron sitting in the corner at the computer desk; pretending to be absorbed in an online article.

"Climbing Mount Everest." He remarked. Chase looked blank but Foreman scoffed.

"Seriously, where are you going?"

"Bermuda Triangle." House answered. From the corner of his eye he swore he could see Cameron's lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile. But then, as swiftly as it came it was gone and she was buried in the article again.

House flicked his palm so that his cane flew into the air, and then he caught it deftly in his left hand. He smirked at the two male doctors, before retreating into his office. Moments later the thuds of his oversized tennis ball hitting the wall resonated through the glass walls of the conference room. Cameron grabbed slipped her lab-coat over her shoulders, pulling it tight across her, and stalked out of the room.

* * *

Hayley could tell Cameron had had a bad day, due to the fact that when she pulled up to the school she was listening to one of Hayley's CDs. Usually they took it in turns to decide what music to play in the car, and Hayley's CD had been left in the player from her last turn. The fact that Cameron was content to listen to Avril Lavigne was a sure sign that her mind was focussed on other things.

"Hey." Hayley said, sliding into the passenger seat. She threw her school bag into the back seat and turned down the volume on the music. "Want to talk about it?" she asked as Cameron drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.

"Nope." The older of the two sisters replied, turning the volume back up. "Put your seatbelt on." She said as she pulled away.

* * *

On Sunday evening Hayley told Cameron she had forgotten a homework project, and needed to go to the library. She had slipped the car-keys off the hook and promised to be back by nine thirty. Fifteen minutes later she let herself into House's apartment.

"House? It's me." She called out, and heard a muffled reply. She looked around her. Strewn over House's couch were several items of clothing, while two suitcases were stood by the door. "I can't stay long; Allie thinks I'm at the library." House hobbled out of the bedroom, not using his cane.

"Are you all packed?" she asked, frowning as he limped painfully towards the couch. He tossed a jacket over the suitcases.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Are you nervous?" House shrugged, digging into his jeans pocket and coming up with a familiar-looking orange vial.

"Can't decide whether or not to take them with me." Hayley reached out and took the pills, reading the label even though she already knew what it said.

"New start, right? And the whole point of this is that you won't need them anymore."

"I thought the point was so I could get Cameron back?" House commented, and Hayley smiled.

"That too."

* * *

It's a bit short, but I don't want to end this story. 


	33. Chapter 33

So welcome to chapter 33. Hooray!!! I'm really really sorry that chapters are getting a bit shorter each time I post, but I really really am putting off ending this story. Cos I love it so much. And also, I apologise to everyone who has no idea what the heck this means but... spacecadet1922 - unchop yourself. I realise that was random but it had to be done. Likewise, reading and reviewing must also be done. Please. Much love and kisses :)

* * *

House begrudgingly joined the dozens of people queuing for cabs. His plane had been delayed, and the Vicodin he had taken before leaving for the airport in New Jersey had worn off before he had even boarded his plane. As a consequence, despite the luxurious space offered by first class, he had spent the majority of the flight in near-impossible pain. The only relief came when the flight attendant came round with the wine list. 

Finally he reached the head of the queue, and it took three waves of his cane for the cab driver to understand that he needed help loading his suitcase and hand luggage into the trunk. Once inside House named his destination.

"Beaufort Medical Center."

* * *

"_So how bad is it?_" Hayley typed rapidly. House had been at the Beaufort Medical Center for almost two weeks, and they had spoken over instant messenger every couple of days. She sipped at the cup of coffee Cameron had brought her a few minutes ago, and wrinkled her nose. Cameron was trying to use up House's brand of coffee, which was stronger than the one the two sisters preferred. They only had it because House had spent so much time at their apartment, and complained about their chosen coffee being too weak. Neither of the Cameron's liked his brand, but the older of the two couldn't bring herself to waste it. 

After a few minutes, the reply flashed up, and Hayley couldn't help but smirk. Not so much at House's reply, but at the fact that to avoid Cameron realising she was messaging House, he was renamed 'Emily'.

"_Not top bad. Could br better but shakes have stopped now_" was the reply. Hayley shook her head slightly, her fingers moving over her keyboard again.

"_Top bad? Could br better? You're a liar_" House's reply was instant, and Hayley could practically see him getting annoyed when he realised the shakes he was pretending had dissipated were actually messing up his typing.

"_Shut up._" Wisely, Hayley decided to change the subject.

"_Has Dr Ramos given you the ok yet?_" Mary Ramos, the doctor who had invited him to join the Ketamine trial, had discovered the extent of House's Vicodin addiction on his first day at the center, and had refused to let him begin treatment until he completed a ten-day course of therapy and rehab.

The first few sessions were filled with House sarcastically discussing how his childhood was really at fault for his dependence on pain medication and how he secretly liked that people excused his action, but when the therapist touched on the possibility that House used Vicodin as a replacement for love, his sarcasm had wavered and he remembered Cameron's words; _"__You don't love me, you love _Vicodin_"._

The rehab had been harder, though he hadn't had any Vicodin since his before flight out to the Medical Center, the effects of the withdrawal had been amplified, due to House having taken the pills on average ten or more times a day. When Hayley had spoken to him last, three days ago, House was so sick he could barely form a sentence, and their messaged conversation was filled with lengthy turns from Hayley and one word responses from House.

"_I go under tomorrow._" Flashed up House's typed reply, and Hayley blinked, slightly stunned.

"_Already?_" she typed. Even though this had been part of her plan, Hayley felt a sudden rush of panic at the thought of House being put into a Ketamine-induced coma for six days. She had researched the medical programme, the Beaufort Center and Doctor Ramos herself in more detail than when she found out she suffered from Felty's disease.

House's reply was a smiley face emoticon, accompanied by the words "_Don't worry about it_." Hayley smiled, hastily minimising the instant messenger window when Cameron entered the room.

"It's getting late and we have to be up early tomorrow." Hayley had an appointment scheduled at the hospital; a regular monthly check-up to monitor how she was doing post-surgery, and how she was managing the Felty's.

"Okay. I'll just say bye, and then I'll go to bed."

"Who are you talking to?" Cameron asked, moving over to Hayley's bed, where the Hayley was sitting cross-legged with her laptop positioned in front of her.

"Just an old friend from New York. Emily. You don't know her."

"Well, don't stay up too late." Cameron insisted, leaning over and kissing the top of Hayley's head.

"I won't." Hayley promised, ensuring that Cameron couldn't see her laptop screen in the process. Cameron switched on Hayley's bedside lamp and left the bedroom, pointedly flicking off the main light as she did so.

"Goodnight." Hayley called. She turned her attention back to the laptop. "_Allie says I have to go to bed now._" She typed. House's reply popped onto the screen a minute later.

"_Good luck at the hospital tomorrow._"

"_You too._" Hayley typed, before shutting down her computer. It was only later, as she was getting ready for bed that she realised House had remembered her check-up at the hospital without her reminding him.

* * *

Like I said, a little short but hopefully it just means that I don't have to end this anytime soon. 


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34...hooray :) And as with the last five or so chapters; dedicated to spacecadet1922 - feel happier. PM me.

* * *

"It's for you. Someone named Emily?" Cameron held the phone out to her sister. Hayley looked confused for a moment; she didn't know anyone named Emily, but as she pressed the phone to her ear realisation dawned on her.

"It's me." House's voice echoed down the line, and Hayley pressed the phone tighter against her so that Cameron didn't detect the familiar voice.

"Hi...Em...how are you?" Hayley stammered as Cameron gathered up their dinner dishes. They had ordered Chinese, to celebrate Hayley getting an A on a recent science project.

"Cameron in the room?"

"Uh, yeah…she sent me an email." House chuckled down the phone; he clearly found it amusing.

"Is she paying attention to you, right now?" Hayley could hear the grin in his voice.

"Uh, no…I told her I hadn't read that book, so I couldn't help."

"Go in the other room." House instructed, and Hayley nodded, holding her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.

"I'm gonna go into my room; she's panicking about some assignment she hasn't done." Cameron nodded, trying to balance two dirty plates on top of the empty Chinese cartons. Hayley meandered through the lounge towards her bedroom.

"I don't wanna, like, get a detention. Oh my god, my life would be like _so_ over!"

"Shut up. Would you rather I told her it was you?" House was silent for a moment. "How did you get her to believe you were a girl, anyway?"

"Bribed my room-mate to make the call."

"You're rooming with a girl?" Hayley asked, scandalised, as she sat at her desk, shuffling paper. Footsteps sounded along the hall, and Hayley picked up a textbook before slamming it down on the desk.

"Sorry Em, I can't find it." She said loudly, and the footsteps walked away from the door.

"Cameron?" House asked.

"Yeah. She's convinced something's going on. I think she thinks I'm seeing someone." House made a noise, kind of part way between a laugh and a snort of annoyance. "Anyway. I haven't spoken to you in forever, how are you?"

"Hayley, it's only been a week." The condescending tone of House's voice made Hayley roll her eyes.

"A week during which you've been in a _coma_. Duh. How are you, anyway?"

"Alive."

"House, be serious." Hayley doodled absentmindedly on a piece of paper that was lying on her desk. The screensaver on her laptop flickered off as she jostled it, revealing an open internet window. "Does your leg hurt?"

"Not so far." House replied. "It's kind of uncomfortable, but apparently that's to be expected when you haven't moved for six days."

"So one would imagine." Hayley deadpanned, adding a leaf to her doodle-flower.

"If it's still pain-free in two days I can start physical therapy. The Ketamine will have worn off completely by then."

"Are you nervous?"

"No." House scoffed. Hayley raised her eyebrows, knowing that House couldn't see her but feeling that his lies deserved the gesture.

"I'm not getting my hopes up." House continued. "I got my life back for eight weeks last time, and then it was gone again."

"House-"

"It's ok, I'm just not being too optimistic. It'd be nice to have what I had before, but if doing this means I get Cameron back then I guess it doesn't matter how I end up. Big gesture, right?"

Hayley stopped doodling for a moment, and waited. House didn't continue, and she made a fake gagging noise.

"You must be on some _really_ strong drugs. We are not an after-school special House, suck it up!" House laughed and Hayley smirked, before realising that the page she had doodled a dozen flowers on was actually an essay on the Crimean war.

"Dammit!" she yelled.

"What?" two voices asked; one House's and the other Cameron's. The latter poked her head around the bedroom door a few seconds after Hayley's exclamation.

"I drew on my essay and it's due in tomorrow!" Hayley told her sister. Cameron sighed, almost inaudibly.

"Don't panic." She said, walking over to Hayley and clicked the laptop mouse.

"Just email it to my computer and I'll print another copy for you." She explained, with the tone one might use to a small child.

"Thanks." Hayley said, relieved, as Cameron moved the cursor to view Hayley's open internet window.

"Hayley, what's this?" she asked in a low voice, eyes rapidly scanning the screen. Hayley flushed, and remembered that House was on the phone.

"Hou-Emily I'll call you later, ok? Bye." She pressed disconnect before House could object or question, and set the phone down on her desk.

"Hayley, what is this?"

"It's Wikipedia. I'm researching Ketamine-induced comas."

"I can see that. Why?" Hayley bit her tongue.

"Hayley? Why are you researching Ketamine-induced comas? How do you even _know_ about them?" Cameron had never really told Hayley the details of why she and House had broken up. And because House had told her, Hayley was content to let Cameron keep it to herself. "How do you know about Ketamine-induced comas? Hayley?"

"House!" Hayley yelled. "I know about them because House told me. That's why you and he broke up, because he wouldn't do it. I wanted to know more about it, if that's ok with you."

"It's none of your business!" Cameron yelled back.

"It is my business cos it's MY family too. You all but move House in here and then all of a sudden there's one fight and I'm supposed to accept that it's all over and not that you're not gonna tell me why? Same as when you came home from New York, you wouldn't tell me why and that WAS my business."

Tears pricked at Hayley's eyes, and Cameron noticed. She reached out and placed a hand on Hayley's shoulder.

"Oh Hayley." Cameron wrapped the younger girl into her arms. "I'm sorry." Hayley shrugged her off.

"You never tell me things anymore. You used to tell me everything." She scowled.

"There's a reason I didn't tell you why I came home from New York. And the fight with House was MY business."

"Bull!" Hayley shouted.

"Hayley, stop it. Stop doing this."

"Doing what? What am I doing?" Hayley stormed around her bedroom, blood almost boiling. How could she have been happily joking with House less than fifteen minutes ago, and now suddenly be fuming. It was genuine anger, she realised, but she didn't know she had had it inside her.

"Making fights, being all secretive, flipping out over the tiniest little thing." Hayley clenched her fists, feeling her fingernails digging into her palms. She had been doing that lately, but not for the reason Cameron thought.

"Is this about Jake?"

"No it's not about _Jake_. It's about you and me, and you and House. It's NOT about Jake."

"I can't talk to you when you're like this." Cameron said wearily.

"I'm not being like _anything_!" Hayley raged. Cameron made a noise similar to a growl, and stalked out of the room. Before Hayley could follow the phone rang, and she snapped it up with an angry "What?"

"What happened?" House asked, sounding mildly amused.

"Don't laugh at me. Allie and I had a huge fight, because I'm helping _you_. I hate you. I hate her."

"Hey!" House admonished.

"Go away House." Hayley muttered, disconnecting the call. Seconds later, Cameron re-entered Hayley's bedroom, holding the handset of the portable phone from the kitchen.

"You were talking to House. Why were you talking to House? What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing. Go away." Hayley muttered.

"_Hayley_, why were you talking to House? Why were you looking up Ketamine? What is going on?"

"I can't tell you." Hayley almost whispered, as a tear fell down Cameron's cheek.

"Hayley please." Cameron's voice was plaintive, begging and tears pricked at Hayley's own eyes. "Is something wrong with House? Is he sick?"

"No! He's not sick, he's… I can't tell you. I'm sorry I just- where are you going?" Cameron had practically run from Hayley's room and across the corridor into her own. The door clicked shut. Hayley followed, pounding on the door.

"Allie! Allie, please! He made me promise not to tell you. Allie I'm sorry."

"Go away." Came the reply.

* * *

It's kind of depressing. I'm sorry. But if you review the next update will be happier. 


	35. Chapter 35

I thoroughly and sincerely apologise for the ridiculously long lack of update. As spacecadet so charmingly (ha!) reminded me it's been forever, practically. So I apologise. And am trying to make up with a marginally happy chappy :D Hee, I rhymed.

* * *

"I made coffee." Hayley said, as Cameron entered the kitchen. The older sister didn't answer as she grabbed a mug from the cupboard and filled it with the hot liquid. She murmured a word of thanks and left the kitchen. Hayley hopped down from the counter where she had been perched and followed, her too-long pyjama pants trailing around her feet.

"Allie, talk to me. It's been three days! You have to talk to me sometime."

"No I don't." Cameron replied, wandering aimlessly around the living room, picking up various items and depositing them in marginally less random places.

"He made me promise."

"So keep your promise. I don't care." She placed a coaster onto the coffee table, her back to Hayley.

"Allie you aren't being fair." Cameron suddenly whirled round, her eyes blazing.

"You want to know what's not fair, Hayley? Having to always be the one taking care of everything – that's not fair. Having my boyfriend not care enough about me to even _try_ and get healthy – that's not fair. Having my little sister in league with that same guy to keep stuff from me – that's not fair. The whole damn thing sucks, so don't you even _dare_ try and tell me I'm not being _fair_!" she yelled. Hayley stepped backwards; propelled by the force of her sister's anger. Tears pricked at her eyes. She felt the backs of her legs meet the sofa and stumbled. Cameron was breathing heavily, her arms folded across herself and her eyes focused on the floor.

"He's doing it for you." Hayley whispered. Cameron's eyes flicked up to meet her sisters.

"What?"

"I said he's doing it for you."

"Doing what?" Cameron asked. Hayley sank down into the sofa and pulled her knees up close to her chest, linking her hands around them.

"He's at the Beaufort Center with Doctor Ramos. He's part of her trial." Cameron gasped inaudibly, her hand rising to her mouth.

"The Ketamine?" she murmured and Hayley nodded.

"Except because of the Vicodin she wouldn't let him go into it straight away; he had to do rehab – cold turkey detox and daily therapy." Hayley's voice was almost cold as she spoke.

"_Detox?_" Cameron mouthed, no sound escaping her lips. "_Therapy?_"

"He's doing it for you. All of it, it's because he loves you. He wanted to prove it. This was the only way we could think of."

"'We'? This was your idea?"

"It was _our_ idea. You were miserable without him and he was miserable without you. But it was his fault and he needed to do something big to make it right again. He made me promise not to tell you in case it doesn't work."

"Is it working?" Cameron asked instantly. She was now perching on the coffee table, leaning close to Hayley as if desperate for more information.

"I think so. He sounds like he always does. He's a little bummed right now, but he still sounds way better than he did while he was detoxing." Cameron made a noise that might have been an agreement.

"I'm gonna go get dressed." Hayley said, standing up. Cameron caught hold of her arm.

"Thank you for telling me."

"Whatever." Hayley answered, pulling her arm out of Cameron's grasp.

* * *

"This is Doctor Cameron from Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, I understand you have a patient by the name of Gregory House?" Cameron wound the phone cord around her fingers while the assistant on the other end of the phone checked her computer. Cameron had found the number of the Medical Center scribbled on a piece of paper on Hayley's desk, underneath the name 'Emily'.

After berating herself for snooping around her sister's bedroom Cameron had made four attempts at ringing the number. Twice she had hung up before she even finished dialling, the third time she had disconnected the call as soon as she heard another voice saying 'hello'. The fourth and final time she had told herself not to be so stupid, and decided to introduce herself as a doctor colleague of House's instead of what she really was. Not that she really knew what she was at that point in time; his subordinate? His ex-girlfriend? The woman he was doing all this for?

None of those, she was convinced, would get her any information about House's condition whereas referring to herself as Doctor Cameron, right from the outset, meant that anyone she spoke to was likely to assume she was related to House's medical care. Which they did. The assistant on the end of the phone stopped tapping away on her keyboard and returned her attentions to Cameron.

"Yes, Doctor Cameron there is a Gregory House registered in Doctor Ramos' Ketamine Trial. Would you like me to put you through to Doctor Ramos?" Cameron hesitated, before answering 'yes'. Moments later, after listening to a recording of someone extolling the virtues of the Beaufort Medical Center, the phone was answered.

"Doctor Ramos speaking, how may I help?" As soon as Cameron introduced herself Doctor Ramos interrupted.

"It's so good to hear from you Doctor Cameron – Doctor House has been telling us all about you."

"He…he has?" Cameron questioned hesitantly. House had told his doctors about her?

"Well, yes of course. The young doctor who convinced him to join in the trial – of course we know about you. And I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that Doctor House is doing wonderfully."

"He is?" Cameron asked, not daring to believe it.

"Well yes, there were virtually no side-effects from his treatment and he's actually in Physical Therapy right now. We've just started to increase his sessions but if you like I can have you patched through to PT room – I'm sure he'd love to speak to you."

"No!" Cameron replied, a little too quickly. "I mean, I wouldn't want to interrupt him. And I'd prefer if you didn't tell him I called actually." Cameron rubbed her nose absentmindedly.

"Well, if you insist…" the doctor supposed and Cameron agreed hurriedly.

"I do. But if you could contact me if there are any developments? You can reach me via the hospital's main number."

"Of course Doctor Cameron. Thank you for calling." Cameron murmured her thanks and put the phone back onto its cradle. She stared into space, doodling a tiny caricature on the notepad that was sitting on the phone table. Glancing down at it she sighed. The tiny little house in the corner of the pad stared smugly at her.

"Get a grip." She muttered through gritted teeth, tapping her pen against her eyebrow. "Get a freaking grip."

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As usual, please review. I will love you forever :D


	36. Chapter 36

The phone rang loudly in the silence. House groaned and rolled over, clamping his pillow over his ear. The ringing continued and he blindly reached out to the bedside cabinet. He flicked on the lamp and winced as bright light filled the room. He grabbed the phone and held it to his ear.

"What?" He snapped, his voice hoarse with sleep.

"Did I wake you?" replied Hayley's familiar voice, hushed to a whisper. House turned onto his back, lifting his head slightly to stare at the clock on the opposite wall.

"It's 3a.m, of course you woke me." He grumbled.

"Sorry."

"Why are you whispering?" Realising that this wasn't going to be a quick conversation House adjusted the pillows behind him and sat back, trying to get comfortable.

"Allison's asleep." House felt his curiosity peak when he realised that Hayley had used her sister's full name, instead of calling her Allie like she usually did.

"You two have a fight?" House asked and he heard Hayley sigh heavily.

"She knows where you are House. I had to tell her." Before House could voice his reaction Hayley spoke again, begging; "Please don't be mad at me." She sounded on the verge of tears. House swallowed down the immediate anger that had sprung up inside him, and took a deep breath. When he spoke he tried to keep his voice even; Hayley was obviously upset.

"Why did you have to tell her?" Hayley sniffed.

"We had a huge fight, after you called the last time. She found out I'd been researching your treatment on the internet and wanting to know why. We got into this whole big thing, and she realised I was hiding something. I tried not to tell her House, I promise I did but she wouldn't speak to me for three days. I couldn't take it anymore – I _had_ to tell her. I'm sorry." House was silent, digesting the information.

"What did she say?" He asked, his voice low.

"She wanted to know if you were ok. I said I thought you were, but we're still not speaking properly. I'm sorry House."

"Don't worry about it." The doctor replied, not quite sure he meant what he was saying.

"I screwed it all up though."

"Hayley, it's ok."

"But it's not! I ruined everything." House sighed.

"Look, we'll figure something out. It's not the end of the world." House glanced at the clock again and winced. It was far too early for this.

"You promise?" Hayley sounded so desperate that House found himself taking pity on her.

"I promise, it wasn't your fault. I know how Cameron can get when she wants to know something. It's not worth you guys falling out over."

"Goodnight House." Hayley yawned. House murmured a reply, and heard Hayley put the phone down. He flicked the light off and rearranged the pillows again, trying to get comfortable. The ticking of the clock seemed to get louder and louder the longer he lay in the bed. Frustrated, he sat up and threw the covers back, instinctively reaching to pull his 'bad' leg over the edge of the bed. He shook his head; a couple of times a day since his surgery he forgot that he didn't have the pain anymore, and could move his leg without feeling like he might pass out with the pain.

It reminded him of after his first surgery, when Stacey had allowed them to take away the dead tissue. Except now his reactions were in reverse; back then he would try and move like an able-bodied guy until he got that same excruciating reminder.

Massaging his scar, the only physical reminder of what he used to be, he wondered how long it would take until he got used to being able to walk. Standing up, with an ease that made him smile, he made his way out of the room and down the corridor. Three minutes down the hall he came to his favourite room in the center; the physical therapy room. He tried the door, but knew before he heard the click that it was locked. Most nights when he couldn't sleep House would make his way to the PT room; he had only found it unlocked once in ten days. That was his first pain-free night since his surgery and he had spent more than a few hours just sitting, thinking about all the things he would be able to do.

He tried the door for a second time, then shook his head at his own pathetic thoughts. "Enough already! Get a grip." He told himself, making his way back to his room.

_Two days later…_

"What do you want for dinner?" Cameron asked, entering the living room with two boxes in her hands.

"What's the choice?" Hayley asked, her eyes not straying from the TV. She was sat with her back against the sofa, pretending to be interested in a show about police car chases.

"Well, it's pizza – Hawaiian or Meat Feast."

"Hawaiian, please." Hayley stared at the TV, even though the programme was finishing.

"Or we could go out for dinner?"

"Yup." Hayley muttered, beginning to channel-hop. Cameron sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Or we could try fire-eating? Or maybe a trip to the moon...pick up some cheese?"

"I don't like cheese…" was Hayley's murmured reply.

"Hayley Anne Cameron!" The older sister snapped.

"What?" Hayley asked, finally dragging her eyes away from the TV screen. Cameron set the pizzas down on the coffee table and sat on the arm of the sofa.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

"You want cheese – I don't like cheese." Hayley replied.

"Come here." Cameron gestured for Hayley to join her on the sofa, which the younger sister did. "I hate this. I hate us not talking."

"We are talking." Hayley said instantly, but she avoided Cameron's eyes.

"Not properly."

"Allie…we don't need to do this right now." Hayley shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Yes we do." Cameron insisted. "I've been totally unfair on you. All of this stuff with House, you've had to go through it too, and I haven't been there for you like I should have been. I've been so wrapped up in what's been going on with me that I forgot you were going through it too." Hayley was silent for a few moments.

"It's ok." She mumbled. Cameron looked at her sister, and recognised that she wasn't quite telling the truth. Hayley was curled defensively in the corner of the sofa, her knees hugged to her chest and twisting a strand of hair tightly around her finger.

"I love you." Cameron said, slipping down off the arm of the sofa to hug her sister.

"I love you too." Hayley answered, her voice muffled as she wrapped her arms around Cameron.

"House called me today." Hayley said, several hours later. She and Cameron had ordered a pizza and squabbled over which chick-flick to watch before settling down in front of Sweet Home Alabama. Now, as the credits rolled on the DVD neither of them wanted to move to switch off the TV.

"How is he?" Cameron asked, trying to keep her voice even but actually desperate to know. Hayley rested her head on her big sister's shoulder. She crossed her fingers surreptitiously.

"I didn't tell him that you know where he is. But he's coming home tomorrow. And he wants to be back at work in two days."

"Really? What about his leg?" Hayley shuffled, bringing her legs up and resting them over Cameron's lap. She stared at her toes, studiously avoiding her big sister's attention.

"He...he um…he was getting better-" Cameron tensed.

"Was?" The anxiety in Cameron's voice made Hayley feel almost nauseous. She crossed her fingers tighter and took a deep breath.

"He started getting pains in his leg yesterday."

"How bad?" Cameron asked.

"Bad enough for him to check out of the center before he's been officially discharged. He said he's had enough."

"But…but you said…"

"I know; he was fine the other day. I don't know what's happened. But he doesn't want to do it anymore; he's resigning himself to using the cane for the rest of his life."

Cameron was silent, and Hayley could feel her trembling as tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"Allie…" she began, but Cameron lurched forward, shaking. "Allie…" Cameron put a hand to her mouth and sobbed. Hayley wrapped her arms around her big sister but Cameron pulled away. She hurried out of the room, and Hayley heard the loud click as Cameron ran into her bedroom.

Hayley sat for a few moments, shocked and feeling sick. "You, Hayley Anne Cameron-" she said to herself, "are a horrible, horrible sister."


	37. Chapter 37

I tried to get this posted last night but apparently our internet went down. And so, it's being posted now. Hooray! - dedicated to spacecadet1922 and jacobriley; see if you can spot yourselves!!

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go into work today? You could always call in sick and watch DVDs with me all day?" Hayley watched as her sister shook her hair loose from its ponytail. Cameron grabbed a brush and pulled it briskly through her hair. 

"I'm going to work. And you should be working on that assignment. Just 'cos you have an in-service day doesn't mean that you just get to mess around." Hayley rolled her eyes.

"As if I would. The DVDs are research. Kind of."

"Kind of?" Cameron raised an eyebrow, dragging the brush through her hair again; trying to get rid of the kinks that were refusing to be flattened.

"Don't change the subject. I'm just saying; if you don't want to go to work today you don't have to." Cameron deftly spun her hair around her fingers, and secured it into a topknot with a hair band.

"It's my job. And House is my boss. If I don't turn up on his first day back at work, what's that gonna say about me?" Cameron stepped into her work shoes, and looked at herself in the mirror. Since House had been gone, she, Foreman and Chase had considerably relaxed their usual working standards; she wondered if they – like her – were standing in front of the mirror scrutinising their attire to see how long it would take House to pick it all apart. She wrinkled her nose; Foreman probably just threw on whatever he wanted and Chase…well Chase was probably more fussed about his hair.

"You look fine. Tiny bit uptight but if that's the look you were going for…" Hayley commented, noticing her sister's careful examination of her cream blouse and dark brown pants suit.

"Hayley…" Cameron said with a warning tone in her voice.

"All I'm saying is that maybe it wouldn't do any harm to maybe wear a skirt. Or maybe a different shade of lipstick. That's all."

"I spent three hours last night deciding what to wear and you tell me now, five seconds before I have to leave, that I should wear something else?" Cameron sounded stern but there was a playful glint in her eye.

"That's what sisters are for."

* * *

Cameron arrived at the hospital at 8.26. She walked into the conference room at precisely 8.31 and sat for thirteen minutes wondering what she should do. Before she and House had broken up their routine had been almost exactly the same as it had been when they weren't an item; except that most days they would arrive together rather than separately. She would make the coffee while he tried to think of excuses not to do his clinic duty. She would sort his mail while he tested the excuses out on her, and then they would sit on his couch and sift through the cases she wanted him to work on while they waited for Foreman and Chase to arrive. 

Now, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Would he still expect her to answer his mail? She hadn't since their break-up. The same went for coffee; she had deliberately made a pot of decaf – knowing he couldn't stand it. The fact that Foreman and Chase preferred caffeinated was beside the point. If her making decaf meant that House didn't get coffee then it was worth irritating Chase and Foreman.

Cameron sighed. Was she really that childish? She drummed her fingernails on the conference table for a moment, and then got to her feet. Coffee wouldn't hurt anyone – and if she knew House like she thought he did, it was likely that he was going to be in a foul mood when he got in. There was no sense in making it any worse by not having coffee ready.

She was just pouring coffee into her mug when she heard the familiar thump of House's cane. She tensed slightly, but continued pouring as she listened to the change in the sound; from the cane hitting the polished floor in the corridor, to the cane hitting the carpet of the conference room. She turned around slowly, coffee pot in one hand and half-filled mug in the other.

House looked…well, if she was honest with herself he looked hot. He'd been working out; that much was obvious. He was wearing a dark-blue button down shirt loose over a white t-shirt, and his muscles were outlined through it. Even though he didn't look happy to be leaning on his cane, he was still the same House.

"Hi." Cameron said quietly.

"Hey." He replied. He had hoped she wouldn't be in so early, but of course; this was Cameron. He moved to go into his office; she realised he had a pile of mail in his free hand.

"Coffee?" she said, stopping him in his tracks.

"Coffee would be good." He answered, nodding when Cameron asked if he wanted her to bring it through.

"That'd be good."

"Good." Cameron agreed. House walked into his office, berating himself for his unexplainable lack of vocabulary, and Cameron turned back to the counter, reaching for House's red mug.

* * *

Once inside his office House hooked his cane on the edge of the desk and stood for a moment, surveying the room he hadn't seen for more than three weeks. It looked much the same. Cameron, Chase and Foreman must have spent their time in the conference room. There was, however, a pile of case files almost twelve inches high in the centre of his desk. He picked the top one off the pile, and settled down into his chair to read. 

Cameron knocked on the door. House was engrossed in the file, or maybe he was just pretending, but either way he didn't notice her standing with his red mug in her hand.

"Hey." He said. "You've been busy." House waved the file slightly when Cameron looked confused.

"Yeah, I guess we have. Coffee." She set the mug down on the desk in front of him.

"Thanks." Cameron glanced at the pile of mail which House had left stacked on his desk.

"You want me to take care of these?" she asked, and House nodded.

"That would be good, thanks." Cameron nodded and moved towards the door, stopping suddenly in the doorway.

"House?" she said, with a question in her voice.

"Yeah?" House took a sip of his coffee, trying to focus on Cameron's face rather than the way her outfit clung to every curve.

"Welcome back."

* * *

"I'm home!" Cameron called, setting her laptop bag down next to the door and toeing off her shoes at the same time. 

"We're in the kitchen." Hayley called back. 'We?' Cameron thought, wondering who 'we' might be. She made her way into the living room; one of Hayley's CDs was playing on the stereo and there was an empty pizza box on the coffee table, accompanied by a stack of DVDs. A quick glance at the dial on the stereo revealed that it was almost ten to nine. Cameron knew she had stayed late at the hospital but she hadn't thought it was that late.

"Poptart?" Hayley asked, appearing around the corner with a plate in either hand.

"Sorry I'm so late." Cameron said, taking the plate that Hayley offered her. Hayley shrugged.

"I have some friends over, that's ok, right?" Hayley nodded her head towards the kitchen. Cameron leaned forward and glanced into the kitchen where a tall dark-haired guy was elbow-deep in the sink, and a diminutive brunette was handing him dishes to wash. A second girl, who Cameron recognised, was drying the clean plates and stacking them. From the various open cupboard doors Cameron figured Hayley had been responsible for putting away.

"Yeah, of course it's ok. You had a good day?"

"Yup. How was House?" Hayley asked through a mouthful of Poptart. Cameron rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna go have a quick shower first. Coffee?" Hayley nodded, and rejoined her friends in the kitchen.

"So…his first day back…?" Hayley asked. She and Cameron were both wearing their pyjamas, and were sitting on the sofa listening to music. Hayley's friends had left a short time after Cameron arrived home.

"It was ok. We didn't have a proper patient, so we divided time between the clinic and filling House in on the cases we've worked on."

"How is he?" Hayley asked, sipping from the coffee mug she was holding in both hands.

"He's still using the cane, but I think it's a new one. He seemed a bit…I don't know. He was kind of quiet all day; he was polite, I guess…and fairly interested in the cases we've had." Cameron replied.

"That's all?" Hayley asked, and Cameron's cheeks reddened. "What? What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Cameron laughed. "It's just…he just…is it completely wrong to say he looked hot?"

"Allison Cameron!" Hayley feigned shock, but both sisters were laughing.

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Read and review:) 


	38. Chapter 38

As always, especially for spacecadet1922. And everyone else of course, but 'specially for her.

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It had been a week since House had returned to work, and for the most part he had kept his distance from Cameron. Their relationship, if he had to describe it, was strained. Neither of them wanted it that way, according to Hayley. She had called him several times throughout the week, and emailed at least once a day to update him; on everything from what Cameron said about him when she got in from work to the absurd amounts of time she took deciding what to wear the following day – always thinking of what House would like.

The treadmill bleeped and House slowed from a run to an easy walk. He smiled at the timer; five miles in an hour. That was a third of a mile more than he'd managed the day before. Doctor Ramos at the Beaufort had been right; the first time he'd had the Ketamine treatment he had been too enamoured with his new-found freedom and had pushed himself too far too fast – resulting in having to use his cane again.

Before he had left the center Dr Ramos had created a detailed physical therapy plan and arranged for him to continue the necessary physical therapy at a treatment center thirty minutes away from Princeton-Plainsboro. She hadn't understood why House was so insistent that he couldn't do his therapy at the hospital where he worked but had found him an equally good treatment center within walking distance of his home.

In the week before House had gone back to work he had attended a therapy session every day, like Doctor Ramos had recommended. And in the week since he had been back at work he had been to three; plus a home workout twice a day. It was all part of Hayley's plan.

* * *

House leaned against the back of his couch, breathing heavily. He glanced at his wall-clock – eight thirty – and almost as if on cue the phone started to ring. He reached over to grab the handset.

"House." He said, waiting for Hayley's usual reply;

"How far?" He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Five." He answered, rolling his shoulders to ease the growing tautness spreading across his back.

"Well done. Allie's at the library." Hayley told him, which accounted for the ease in her voice. Normally she would whisper, or throw in such cryptic comments to confuse Cameron that House himself was unsure what exactly she was trying to tell him.

"How was she today?"

"Antsy."

"Excuse me?"

"She's all… uppity. Twitchy and nervous; she barely stopped moving since she got in. She was about to clean the refrigerator for God's sake!"

"Tragic." House deadpanned and Hayley laughed.

"I was about to sedate her, she's driving me crazy." House slowly made his way into the kitchen. While he could manage perfectly well without his cane now; and had been able to since before he left the treatment center, but he still got twinges of pain every now and then; especially after his workouts.

He snapped open a beer and held it to his lips, listening to Hayley describing Cameron's actions since she had gotten home from work. He hadn't noticed anything different about her, if he thought about it, other than that she had brought him a cup of coffee in his office instead of leaving it by the coffee machine. She had taken to leaving it there since his return; if he wanted coffee he had to leave his office and get it himself.

"So why is she at the library?" He asked when Hayley paused to take breath.

"I don't know, she gets most of her stuff from Amazon. Maybe she was just bored."

"Maybe. Any idea why she's so 'antsy'?" House could tell Hayley was smirking at his use of her expression.

"None at all." Hayley paused. "Well…"

"Well, what?" House asked, sensing Hayley's hesitation.

"She got asked out today. On a date." Why Hayley felt she had to clarify that fact was beyond House's reckoning. He suddenly felt nauseous.

"By who?" He managed to ask, gulping down the beer he held regardless of the churning it seemed to create in his stomach.

"Robert." Hayley answered. House nearly choked and Hayley seemed to realise her mistake.

"Not Chase!" she practically yelled, scandalised. "Some new guy called Robert. I think he works in Gynaecology." The disgusted tone in Hayley's voice matched the sickened expression on House's face as his fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle.

"She says she doesn't know whether to say yes. She wanted me to tell her what to do."

"And?"

"I told her I didn't know. She says she's not sure if she can go out with another guy if there's even a hint that there might be something between you two. You have to do something!"

"Like what?" House asked, resignedly. He vaguely remembered Foreman and Chase talking about some new gynaecologist. Foreman had been less than enamoured with him, Chase impressed. Apparently 'Robert' had a liking for nurses, according to a rumour buzzing around the hospital. The thought of him even looking at Cameron was enough to make House's blood boil.

A knock on the door meant that House didn't hear Hayley's reply.

"Hold that thought." He told her, walking to the front door.

"Why?" Hayley asked indignantly.

"Because…" House began; unlocking the door and pulling it open without looking through the peephole. He stopped dead.

"Because what?" Hayley demanded.

"Just because." House replied absently, pressing the disconnect button.

"Hi." Cameron ventured.

* * *

"Coffee? Juice? Water?" House led the way into his kitchen, Cameron walking slowly in his wake. House wished he could stop himself sounding so urgent to please, like a small child needing attention, but no matter what he tried, since Cameron had shown up on his doorstep five minutes ago his I.Q seemed to have dropped several dozen points and he was now reduced to one-word sentences. At least he had progressed from dumb silence, that was surely something.

"Beer?" Cameron asked, noticing the bottle on the island in the centre of House's kitchen.

"Ok." House opened his refrigerator, relishing the cool air that greeted him as he bent down to retrieve the beverage. He handed Cameron the beer and she looked around for the bottle opener, her expression innocent and almost scared.

House took the bottle back from her, and opened it himself. Cameron winced and he had to stop himself smiling; when they had been a couple House would always open his beer without the bottle opener and Cameron would always flinch, as if she were worried that he would do himself damage. In the end it had become one of their little jokes; one of the things that made them a couple. As House gave back the bottle he felt sure that he caught a similar glimmer of recollection in her own eyes. He smiled tentatively as she sipped at her beer.

She looked at home in his apartment, he thought. She always had done, which was weird since they had always spent more time at her own apartment; it had always been easier for Hayley. And now, even though she was clearly nervous, she didn't look uncomfortable or out of place. She had dressed up, he noted; wearing the same pair of jeans that he had thought looked so good on her the time they drove to New York to pick up Hayley's stuff, and a simple black top designed to flatter and accentuate whilst at the same time being perfectly appropriate. He wondered how much thought she had put into this outfit.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." Cameron finally said, her voice low and quiet and her eyes focused on a spot of dirt about three inches in front of House's right foot.

"Well…" House began.

"The new doctor in Gynae asked me out. On a date." Cameron interrupted. House tried not to smirk at the way Cameron, like Hayley, had felt the need to clarify the purpose of the invitation. He decided against telling Cameron that Hayley had already filled him in.

"Ok…"

"I didn't say yes." Cameron said instantly. She lifted her face slightly and looked at him from under the cover of her eyelashes. "But I didn't say no either."

"Ok…"

"Stop saying ok!" Cameron half-snapped.

"Why?" House asked.

"Because it's irritating." House shook his head at her answer.

"I meant why didn't you say yes? Or no?" He explained and Cameron blushed; her pale cheeks flushing crimson as she stared at a guitar-shaped fridge-magnet. Slowly she returned her attention to him.

"I don't know. I can't start anything new unless…" House inclined his head slightly, willing her to continue.

"Unless I know that there's no way there can be anything between us again." When House didn't say anything Cameron's cheeks reddened again but she seemed to gain confidence and took a bold step forwards; closing the distance between them.

"I don't want to go out with him, when I could be with you." She whispered, staring up at him in a way that made him want to forget everything he and Hayley had planned and just admit what an idiot he was.

Instead he stepped backwards, muttering "I can't." Cameron almost recoiled; stepping backwards sharply.

"Can't? Or won't?" she asked, her voice clipped and almost biting with anger.

"Both." House admitted, reluctantly. A tear slid down Cameron's cheek.

"But I love you." She whispered, as if those four words were the answer to all life's mysteries. House was silent, not sure if anything he said at this point could possibly make the situation any better. He cleared his throat.

"I…" But before he could finish his sentence Cameron's was pressed against him, one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek and her lips were on his in a kiss so urgent that he stumbled backwards, leaning heavily against the refrigerator.

Knowing he would kick himself later he set his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away slightly. The look on her face was enough to make him hate himself. She was so desperate, but at the same time so calm; like she knew exactly what she wanted and how she was going to get it.

"We can't." He murmured. Cameron placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I know." She whispered sadly, before taking a step backwards. "I know." Her eyes were filled with tears as she tucked her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath.

"I know." She said one final time, before walking out of the kitchen. House leant against the kitchen counter, his forearms resting on the cool marble and his fists clenched.

He heard the door shut quietly, and before he had a chance to think a second time he was running through his apartment, yanking the door open and staring down the hall.

"Cameron!"

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I know I know too much angst but I know what I'm doing, people! And angst is how it works so there :P Reviews are love! 


	39. Chapter 39

Hooray! Quick update! Hooray! No more angst:D

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"Cameron! Cameron!" House called down the empty hall. He heard a door slam somewhere and felt as if all the blood had drained from his body. "Damn." He muttered under his breath, slamming his hand against the doorjamb. He walked dejectedly into his apartment, one hand absent-mindedly bracing his 'bad' thigh. He retrieved the phone from the floor next to the sofa; when he had disconnected the call to Hayley he had thrown it behind him, not really caring where it had landed. He sank into the couch, wincing at a twinge in his muscle. He pressed redial on the phone and held it to his ear. Almost instantly Hayley answered with an irate;

"You better have a good explanation for hanging up on me."

"Cameron was just here." House told her, not quite sure why his voice sounded so weary.

"Oh." Hayley replied. "Why?" House sighed, wondering how to explain the evening's events.

"She…well, she told me she got asked on a date. And that she couldn't say yes unless she knew that there wasn't anything between us." Judging by the sharp intake of breath on Hayley's end of the line House could tell that, as he had suspected, this had not been part of her plan.

"And…?" Hayley urged.

"And what?" House asked wearily.

"What else happened, that can't be all!" she persisted.

"We kissed. She kissed me and I pushed her away, and she left."

"You pushed her away? She kissed you and you pushed her away?"

"Did you or did you not tell me a thousand and one times that we had to stick to the plan?"

"Well yeah but…but…" As Hayley stammered down the line House rubbed his temples; the strain of the evening was taking its toll and he had a pounding headache.

"But what?" he asked, when almost a minute later Hayley still seemed incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

"You like sports metaphors, right?" she asked, the question so blatantly rhetorical that House barely needed to utter a reply for her to continue. "Ok, so you know how in football they sometimes 'call an audible'?" House resisted the urge to laugh; the idea of either of the Cameron sisters managing to pull off a decent sports metaphor was so ridiculous.

"Yeah…" he finally replied.

"Ok. So, this is like that. You already have a game-plan but when it comes down to the line you see something on the other side that makes you change your plans." House wasn't sure which was more astounding, that Hayley understood the metaphor or that she had such a grasp on the situation.

"You get what I mean, right? Just cos _we_ know what we're doing, doesn't mean something won't come along and spoil it; like when Allie and I had that fight and I had to tell her about your treatment, or now with this stupid-ass doctor from Gynae. This is just another thing we have to work around. A temporary hitch. A delay. A drawback."

"Yeah yeah, I get it." House confirmed. "I went after her, you know. I tried to call her back but she'd already left."

"So what do you want to do now?" Hayley asked. House thought for a moment that she hadn't heard him, but when she continued all became clear. "Do you want to completely change our whole idea, or shall we just tweak?" For the first time in what felt like hours House laughed.

"I sound like an evil genius," Hayley giggled. "But seriously, I personally think our original plan will still work if we can just get rid of Gynae-Guy." House smirked at the affectionate nickname she had given Cameron's prospective date.

"And now exactly do we do that, Ruler of all that is Evil?" He questioned.

"I don't exactly have that part worked out yet, but give me until tomorrow morning and all shall be planned."

"Evil geniuses don't work on the spot?" House joked.

"Hey, plans with this level of evil-osity take a _lot_ of thinking. And popcorn."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, popcorn and angry-girl music and – oh crap Allie's home. Talktoyoulaterbye!" The last few words were garbled into one long mess as Hayley scrambled to disconnect the call. House was left with a dial-tone ringing in his ear, and a bemused smirk on his face.

* * *

"Hey, how was the library?" Hayley asked as Cameron shrugged off her jacket and threw it over the back of the couch.

"Fine." She murmured, grabbing the TV remote from its resting place on the coffee table and channel-flicking.

"Just fine? Did you find whatever it was you wanted?"

"Not really. But I will." The determination in Cameron's voice made Hayley wonder if House had really told her the truth of events between him and Cameron that evening.

"Okay then…" she said slowly. "So did you think about that guy from work?"

"I guess." If Hayley hadn't felt so sorry for her big sister, she was fairly certain that Cameron's offhand attitude would result in having a sofa cushion thrown at her head. As it was, Hayley was confused by Cameron's reaction to what had happened with House. She had expected tears, or anger, or at least some form of emotion but Cameron was so…blank that it was more disturbing than a full-on fit of hysteria.

"And?" Hayley ventured.

"I'm not going to go out with him." Hayley breathed a sigh of relief, causing Cameron to look at her; confused. "I just think it's too soon after House for you to be dating someone." Hayley explained. Cameron shrugged evasively, sliding into the couch beside Hayley.

"What are we watching?"

"You can't just change the subject! What _are_ you gonna do?"

"I don't know yet. But I realised, well I already knew really, I'm not ready to give up on House. Not yet, not while he still loves me. And he does, I know he does."

"How?" Hayley asked, trying to show the appropriate level of curiosity.

"He kissed back."

* * *

"Allie's asleep so I have to be quiet but I called to tell you that I have an idea." Hayley whispered down the phone.

"And you couldn't wait until the morning to tell me?" House groaned, glancing at the clock. 3 am phone-calls seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence with Hayley.

"I'm going to choose to ignore that comment. Allie isn't going out with the other guy!" Despite the whispering, it was clear Hayley was bursting with anticipation.

"Well that's good." House dead-panned, knowing it would irritate Hayley but also to downplay his own enthusiasm.

"You want to know _why_ she isn't going out with him?"

"Because she's in love with me; we already covered this."

"I appreciate that you're tired but _be quiet_. I have a plan and if you don't stop whining I won't share."

"Someone got out the wrong side of the bed." House grumbled underneath his breath.

"For your information I haven't been to bed yet. I've been up all night trying to think how to get you and Allie back together." Hayley sounded genuinely irritated, and House decided it was better to let her talk.

"Sorry. I'm listening."

"Ok. So Allie isn't going to go out with that guy because she knows you still love her. And she doesn't want to give up on you, so now all you have to do is ask her out on a date. She'll say yes, I know it."

"Well that was already part of the plan," House began but Hayley shushed him.

"Did we or did we not discuss _changing_ our plan?"

"Ok, ok. I'm assuming you have somewhere you want me to take her?" Hayley giggled.

"Nope. That part's all on you. But you have to ask her tomorrow. Early."

"Why?" House asked.

"_Because I said so_. Now tell me you'll ask her out tomorrow so that I can get to sleep."

"I'll ask her out tomorrow."

* * *

"Good morning." House announced to the conference room. Foreman and Chase were sat at the table engrossed in copies of a patient's file, and Cameron had her back to him as she made a fresh pot of coffee. He quickly glanced at her outfit; a pair of heels that could only just be considered work-appropriate, a pair of black form-fitting pants and a white blouse. She had her hair almost completely loose, falling in gentle waves around her shoulders; with only a few strands pinned back with a white hair-clip.

"Morning." Chase and Foreman mumbled, but Cameron didn't answer. Instead she turned, cup of coffee in hand, and made her way over to the desk in the corner. As she settled herself in front of the laptop she had already placed there House noticed her eyes flicker towards him, and knowing that his other two subordinates weren't paying attention he dared to smile at her. Cameron didn't know how to react; she hadn't expected House to even register her presence given how they had left things the night before and here he was smiling at her?

House hobbled towards the counter and poured himself a mug of coffee. The tell-tale decaf packet had been left next to the machine and House tried not to grimace as he took a sip. Holding the mug in his free hand he shuffled into his office, saying 'Thanks' to Cameron as he passed her desk. Again, the look on her face was priceless as she tried to decide how she was supposed to react to him.

He seated himself at his desk, flipping through the pile of letters that Cameron had brought up from the mail-room. It didn't look as if she had sorted through it, but if she had gone to get it from the mail-room it was as if she was meeting him halfway. He smiled to himself.

He picked up the phone and pressed one of the speed-dial buttons.

"Yes House?" Cameron asked wearily.

"Put me on speaker. Please." He added the final word as an afterthought. Cameron sighed, but he heard the buzz on the line as she did as he asked.

"Foreman, Chase – we have a new patient. 51 year old male with stomach pains, swollen ankles and persistent migraines. Room 317, go have some fun." He waited until the sounds of the two doctors' confused mutterings dissipated and was about to speak again when Cameron interrupted.

"And what about me?"

"I need to see you in my office." This time House didn't say please, and he could almost feel her annoyance seeping through the dividing wall. He heard the click as she put the phone down, and a few seconds later she appeared in the doorway; exasperation clearly written across her face.

"What? What could you possibly have to say that you couldn't say last night?"

"Go on a date with me."

For the third time in less than an hour Cameron didn't know quite how to react. She stood silently for a few moments, digesting the information.

"A date?" she questioned, and House nodded. "A real date?"

"A real date. Wherever you want, whatever you want." Cameron contemplated this for a second or two, during which House stared at her with such a determined look that she found herself smiling for what felt like the first time in days, maybe months.

"I'd love to."

* * *

How much do you love me? Care to tell me in a review? (Oh yeah, and special thanks to Limaccia because she gave me an excellent idea for the basis of this chapter, I think without even meaning to. :D) 


	40. Chapter 40

"For the seventeenth time, you look great."

"You're sure? I still have time to change..."  
"I swear to God, if you change your outfit _one more time_ I will kill you."

"But the blue shirt..."

"HOUSE! For the last time, you look great. Allie won't be able to resist. Now get a move on, you don't want to be late." Hayley looked pointedly at her watch as House tugged at the collar on the red shirt she had insisted he wear. Apparently Cameron liked the colour on him.

"And you don't want a ride back to your place?" House asked.

"No, I told you, Allie thinks I'm studying with Will. I'll just hang out here for a while and then Wilson said he'll drop me back before you drop her home." Wilson had graciously signed the lease of House's apartment back to him, and was now living in an apartment in the same building. This had proved to be both a blessing and a curse as far as the oncologist was concerned; seeing as House now took full advantage of his neighbour's fully stocked refrigerator on a regular basis. House had also filled Wilson in on the essential details of his and Hayley's plan; trying to pretend he still needed his cane when Wilson kept appearing in his apartment was far too difficult.

"Have a good time." House shook his head at her, and then picked up the bouquet of daisies that Hayley had been holding when Wilson had opened the door; House had been banging around in the kitchen for no apparent reason other than that he wanted to make some noise. The oncologist was now sitting in the couch, calmly reading the latest edition of a medical journal and occasionally glancing up at House with a look of mild amusement.

House grabbed his cane from the stand behind the front door and stared at it with distaste.

"See you later!" Hayley called as he pulled the door open and made his way out of the apartment. The door swung closed behind him.

* * *

"I'll be ready in two minutes." Cameron was mid-sentence as she opened the door. She darted away again immediately, her right hand fussing with an earring. House limped into the apartment, daisy bouquet in hand and glanced around. Nothing in the apartment had changed, that he could tell; Hayley's schoolbooks were scattered over the coffee table and there was a pile of folded laundry on the side of the couch but other than that it was the same apartment he had almost moved into. 

"Ok I'm ready." Cameron said from the doorway. House spun round; almost too quickly for a guy who was meant to be crippled but both he was too stunned to notice his mistake. Cameron was wearing a simple white t-shirt with a pale denim jacket over the top. Her denim skirt fell just above her knees and on her feet were a pair of Hayley's white ballet-style pumps. She had pinned her hair back from her face and House was stunned.

"You look great." He told her, and a smile played on her lips.

"You too. I always did love that shirt." House made a mental note to thank Hayley for her clothing selections, and then remembered the flowers in his hand. He held them out to her.

"I love daisies." Cameron smiled, tucking an absent strand of hair behind her ear as she bent her head to smell them. House nodded, thinking that maybe he should buy Hayley a gift or something.

"So where am I taking you?" House asked, and Cameron grinned – not the small smile that had played on her lips since he had arrived at her apartment but the kind of wicked grin that made dimples appear in her cheeks and her eyes twinkle. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out what looked like a flyer for something. She stepped towards House to hand it to him, and as he glanced at it he couldn't resist grinning too.

It was a flyer for the circus. Months before, in the beginning weeks of their relationship, House and Cameron had been cuddled up in front of the TV late one night talking about a dozen different things. House had, for reasons unknown, admitted that he had never been to the circus. After teasing him for several minutes Cameron had laughingly promised to take him one day. Apparently she remembered her promise.

"We can do something else if you don't want to go." Cameron said, for the first time looking nervous. House folded the flyer and slipped it into his pocket.

"Why would I want to do anything else?"

* * *

"How is it possible that one small person can eat so much junk food?" House asked as the main lights came on for the interval. In the hour-long first half of the show Cameron had worked her way through a stick of cotton candy, a carton of popcorn and a bag of strawberry laces. She had one wrapped around her finger right now, and was twirling it into her mouth in an incredibly un-ladylike manner. 

"I dunno." She shrugged.  
"It always amazed me; how you and Hayley could manage to put so much away." Cameron smirked.

"I guess it's a gift." She poked her tongue out at him; the sugar high was making her giddy. "So, what do you think of the circus?" she asked.

"I think I've been missing out." House replied, opening his mouth to continue but a sudden burst of music from the loudspeakers cut him off. He saw Cameron give him a quizzical look; like she wanted him to continue but then she gave a little shake of her head and turned her attention back to the circus.

For the next hour of the show House found his attention not on the acrobats and contortionists, but on Cameron. He knew that he had missed her; since their break-up almost everyday there had been another thing about her that he had missed, most often small insignificant things he didn't even think he had noticed but suddenly, when they weren't there anymore these things were the things he missed most. She looked beautiful, mouth slightly open as she watched the show, transfixed. Every so often she would jump when one of the performers did something which seemed miraculous and when the trapeze artists performed he thought she was going to jump off the seat.

Cameron was trying to keep her attention focused on the show but even in the darkness that surrounded them she could feel House's stare, so strong she was sure he could see inside her head. She shifted slightly, an inch or so nearer to him along the bench. When he had bought the tickets she had been pleased to see where their seats were; at the front of the rows of benches higher up than those who bought front-row seats and with a clear view into the action. She loved sitting on these seats; it was where she and Hayley had always chosen to sit. One of the few times Michelle had been well enough to go with them the girl selling tickets had taken one look at the bandana covering Michelle's almost bald head and pale skin, and had given them front row seats for free. None of the sisters had enjoyed the show that time.

House noticed her shuffling closer to him, wondering what she would do if he moved closer still. As he contemplated this Cameron turned her head and winked at him, reaching sideways and slipping her fingers through his. He ran his thumb over her fingers and she gently squeezed his hand. He moved closer to her, and she turned slightly on the spot so that her back was against his chest with their joined hands resting on the bench in front of them.

* * *

"I had a good time tonight." Cameron said as House pulled up in front of her building. 

"Me too." House agreed.

"I wasn't so sure I would. I almost rang to cancel but…"

"I'm glad you didn't cancel." House interrupted. "I miss you."

"You see me every day, House." Cameron pointed out, blushing slightly.

"It's not the same." House shut off the engine but remained facing out the front window. He knew if he looked at Cameron he was likely to say or do something to screw up what had been a great evening.

"I know." Cameron murmured, winding the handle of her purse round and round her fingers until it nearly cut off the circulation.

"I still love you." House felt his heartbeat suddenly quicken and forced himself to nod.

"I still love you too." They sat in silence for a few minutes and then Cameron spoke again.

"Thank you for this evening. I'll see you tomorrow." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, simultaneously clicking her seatbelt undone, and then she was gone – out of the car and crossing the sidewalk to her building.

* * *

Hayley was curled underneath a duvet on the couch when Cameron let herself into the apartment. Cameron heard her muttering and wondered if she was sleep-talking, but as she moved closer she saw a phone in Hayley's hand. 

"Hey." Cameron said, and Hayley jumped.

"I have to go, speak to you tomorrow?" she babbled into the phone and quickly disconnected the call. Cameron smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"A little soon for a clandestine phone-call from House, isn't it? He only just dropped me off." Hayley blushed; she hadn't realised that Cameron knew about her phone conversations with House, but then she shook her head defiantly.

"Wasn't House." Hayley's cheeks burned red as she shifted underneath the quilt so that she was sitting in the corner of the sofa. She was wearing a pair of blue pyjamas with sheep on them, and looked about fourteen years old. Cameron slipped underneath the cover with her, drawing her knees up under it and snuggling against Hayley.

"So who was it?"

"How was the date?" Hayley asked, trying to change the subject.

"Date was good, who was on the phone?"

"Where did you go?" Hayley continued as if Cameron hadn't even asked her a question.

"The circus. Hayley, who was on the phone?" The younger Cameron sister was silent, her cheeks still flame red. She shifted uncomfortably underneath the quilt and Cameron twigged.

"Was it a guy?" When Hayley didn't answer Cameron laughed. "It was a guy! Come on, who is he?"

"No-one!" Hayley protested but Cameron just looked at her with such amusement that she caved in.

"Remember when we went to that coffee shop, and I told you Jake and I had broken up? And there was that guy that you thought I was flirting with?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, me and my friends have started going there after school sometimes; Will's sister works there so we get a discount, and most afternoons he's there too. His name's Kyle."

"And…?" Cameron persisted.

"And nothing! We haven't been on a date yet, mostly we talk on the phone. He works evenings at that new restaurant in town and he calls when he gets off shift."

"Hayley likes Kyle." Cameron singsonged and Hayley poked her in the ribs.

"Yes I like him. He makes me laugh, ok?"

"Well as long as you're happy, yeah." Cameron sunk down further underneath the quilt, lying her head back against the couch.

"So…the circus?" Hayley asked with a giggle in her voice. "Fire-eaters, acrobats, contortionists – what did House think?"

"House paid more attention to me than to the show." Cameron replied in a small voice.

"In a good way, right?"

"Of course. And then in the car just now…"

"If this is gonna be one of _those_ conversations can I just say eww right now and be done with it?"

"Hayley!" Cameron laughed. "For your information, I kissed him on the cheek and that was it. But we did talk and…"

"And…?"

"And I miss him. I want to get back together and I think he does too – at least, he said he misses me, and still loves me-"

"Well, duh." Hayley commented.

* * *

I loved all the reviews from the last chapter SO much that I had to write an extra-long chapter 40. :) Please review! 


	41. Chapter 41

I know, I know, it's been _forever_!!! But I do have a half-way valid excuse; something along the lines of moving to the other end of the country to go to University and having to do boring-but-important things like lectures and seminars and other important grown-up things. Having said that, America gets Season 4 of House tomorrow and I am insanely jealous...and for some reason that spurred me into writing. Once again; it's dedicated to SpaceCadet1922 who I am convinced is boycotting me until I post a new chapter so here we go - as always reviews and the like are what makes my little world go around! P.s. I tried to make it a long chapter to make up for the loooooong absence!

* * *

Cameron woke up with a start, trying to figure out what had disturbed her dream. She moved so that she was resting on her elbows, staring into her darkened bedroom. A glance at the digital clock on her bedside table told her it was 1.43 a.m, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness Cameron realised there was nothing inside the room that would have woken her. She remained still for a few moments, listening intently. Suddenly she heard it, a noise halfway between a cough and someone choking. Immediately Cameron sat upright, and when she heard it again she swung her legs over the side of the bed. 

As soon as Cameron opened her bedroom door the noise amplified, and as she stood outside Hayley's door she realised what had woken her. Hayley was crying.

"Hayley?" Cameron slowly opened Hayley's door and stepped inside. The lamp on Hayley's bedside table was turned on, allowing Cameron to see her little sister curled up underneath her quilt with the top of her head barely visible. When Cameron entered Hayley shuffled so that she was sitting almost on top of her pillows, hurriedly wiping away the tears that streaked her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Cameron asked, moving towards Hayley's bed and sitting close to her sister.

"Nothing." Hayley mumbled, her voice thick with tears. Cameron reached out and stroked Hayley's face, pushing back several strands of hair so that she could look her sister in the eye.

"You can tell me…"

"I said it's nothing." Hayley replied, the added force in her voice was betrayed however by fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. She drew her knees up towards her chest and clasped her arms tightly around them.

"Ok then." Cameron said gently, pulling the covers back and settling herself in beside Hayley, wrapping her arms around Hayley's shaking shoulders. She lightly kissed the top of Hayley's head and the small action set off another bout of crying. Cameron held tightly to her younger sister, arranging the pillows so that they could rest against them and eventually, Hayley allowed herself to lean back. Cameron leant back too, pulling the covers up over them and gently stroking Hayley's hair until the younger girl had calmed down.

After what felt like an age, Hayley stopped crying. She hiccupped softly against Cameron's shoulder, almost choking sometimes but eventually the only sound in the room was their soft breathing, almost in time. Cameron knew enough about her sister not to make the first move, and waited until Hayley spoke.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." She murmured. Cameron waited to see if her sister would elaborate but Hayley didn't continue.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly, smoothing Hayley's hair back from her face. Hayley didn't speak for another few minutes, and she was breathing so softly that Cameron wasn't entirely certain that she was still awake.

"I miss her." Hayley finally answered, in such a tiny voice that Cameron wondered for a second if she'd misheard. "It's stupid, I hate her so much for everything she's done but at the same time I miss her." Cameron felt her heart pounding in her chest as she realised who Hayley was talking about. She was almost holding her breath, waiting to see what Hayley would say next.

"I know I should just forget about her, we're so much better off just the two of us without her but sometimes…sometimes I just feel like I'm missing out. And I love you so much, but I see all my friends with their moms – even my guy friends are really close with their parents and whenever they find out I live with you instead of with Mom or Dad I always get this…this look, like they're pitying me. And I don't want their pity cos it makes me feel like this."

"And how do you feel? Really?" Cameron hesitated before asking, not entirely sure that she wanted to hear an honest answer.

"Like I'm alone."

"You are _not_ alone, do you hear me?" Cameron told her forcefully. "You have me, and you have Dad, and you have your friends. You even have House."

"But I want a mom." Hayley bit her lip, trying to keep from crying again. "Isn't that screwed up?"

"It's not screwed up. She's screwed up, Hayley, if she can't see what a great daughter she had in you. She's the one missing out, I promise you." Hayley was silent again, and for the second time Cameron wondered if she was still awake.

"She's missing out on both of us." Hayley muttered.

"I know." Cameron replied, kissing the top of her sister's head and holding her tighter.

* * *

The alarm clock on Hayley's bedside cabinet glowed red in the darkness. Hayley had fallen asleep more than an hour ago, curled in her big sister's arms, but Cameron had stayed awake, unable to sleep. 3.21, the clock said. Cameron eased away from Hayley, sliding out of the bed as quietly as she could and tucking the covers around the sleeping teenager. She tiptoed out of the room, careful to leave the door open in case Hayley woke up. 

She pottered around the kitchen, tidying up the random collection of clutter that she and Hayley seemed to acquire and organising the contents of the refrigerator, and it was only when she sat down at the dining table with several months worth of junk-mail they had been sent that she snapped out of her daze and reached for the phone.

Pressing a button, she held the phone to her ear, telling herself that if he didn't answer after five rings she'd hang up. Ten rings and she'd hang up. After fifteen rings, Cameron was only holding the phone for the sake of having something to cling to.

"Hello?" House grumbled. Instantly tears began to slide down Cameron's cheeks. "Hello? Who is this?" House asked. There was a slight pause and seconds later House spoke again, "Cameron?"

"Yeah." Cameron sobbed in reply.

"What's wrong?" House asked, the tired and grumpy tone replaced with one of genuine concern.

"I don't…I…" Cameron twisted a loose cord on her pyjama sleeve around her finger, unsure how to answer House's question.

"I'm coming over." He told her, and there was a click on the line as House put the phone down. Cameron let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding and placed the phone on the table, before trying to wipe away the tears that were soaking her cheeks. She tried to take deep, even breaths, and the thought that House was on his way was enough comfort to help her. Nevertheless it felt like days passed between him hanging up the phone and knocking on the front door.

Cameron stumbled, almost blindly to the door and flipped open the locks. She pulled the door open towards her and saw House standing almost breathless, his motorcycle helmet in one hand and cane in the other. He moved a half-step towards her and in that instant she was suddenly in his arms, sobbing as he enveloped her tightly.

"It's ok… it's ok, I'm here." He soothed.

* * *

House hadn't been asleep when Cameron had called him, despite the length of time it had taken him to answer the call. The phone had been ringing as he had gotten back to his apartment; lately he had taken to going for long runs in the middle of the night; it was cooler and easier to run when there weren't other people to stare at the slightest glimmer of the gruesome scar he still bore. Even with the treatment, when he ran he still had a slight limp – though without the excruciating pain that had accompanied it, and it was less complicated to run in the dark, when no-one was around to stare at him. It was also a good opportunity to think, mostly about Cameron, and after their date that evening his mind had been so full of thoughts of her that running seemed the only thing he could do to stop himself going back over to her apartment and confessing everything; from the treatment to his plans with Hayley, to his complete and utter love for her. 

And now he was at her apartment anyway, sat on the couch with her curled up by his side and his arms around her and it was so unlike the scenarios he had imagined that he almost wanted to pinch himself. Cameron was still crying, although thankfully she was calmer now and her breathing was less erratic. He had been worried that she might hyperventilate or pass out, she was so worked up. But now that she was more settled, though still clinging to him as if her life depended on it, he knew that she would tell him what was wrong when she was able to. He was proved right when a few moments later Cameron started to speak.

"She was crying. Hayley, I woke up and she was sobbing her heart out and when I went into her room and asked her what was wrong…she told me she misses her mom." House noted Cameron's use of 'her' rather than 'our' but chose not to comment on it.

"She said that she feels alone, when all her friends have mothers and she doesn't. She only has me…and that's not enough."

"She said that you weren't enough?" House couldn't help but interrupt; confused that Hayley would say something like that.

"No, she just said she misses having a mom, even after all the crap ours put us through."

"Well that doesn't mean you aren't good enough," House tried to reassure her. Cameron shook her head.

"I know, that's not what I meant. I don't know what I meant, really. I'm so confused. I don't know what to think any more, I want to tell Hayley it's ok to miss Mom but at the same time I'm thinking…" Cameron stopped short, almost biting her tongue.

"At the same time you're thinking?" House persisted.

"At the same time I'm thinking, 'you have no idea what that woman said about us and if you did you'd be glad you're away from her.'" Cameron practically whispered.

* * *

House was shocked, and confused. "What did she say? When?" He asked. Cameron sighed and once more, tears began to slide down her cheeks. 

"When I was in New York. The reason I came home early. It wasn't because I missed you both, it was…it was because I couldn't bear to even be in the same city as her for one minute more than I had to. I felt…sickened, and disgusted and betrayed…" Cameron's voice trailed off and she shifted so that she was even closer up against House. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, as if he could protect her from things that had already happened.

"What did she say?" He asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer, or sure that Cameron was able to tell him.

"We got into a fight, about Hayley living with me. After all my mother's done she dared to criticise the way Hayley and I were doing things. How I let her just choose which school she wanted to go to, instead of telling her – stupid things like that. And I tried _so _hard not to retaliate 'cos I knew it wouldn't make a difference, it never did with her, and then it was like once she'd gotten started she couldn't stop. Or wouldn't stop. And she just started yelling all this abuse at me, telling me I was…saying I was a bad daughter, and that she'd never wanted me. And that she never would have had Hayley if it weren't to save Michelle…" Cameron's voice was thick with tears but she wiped her cheeks brusquely, almost as if once she'd started to talk about it she couldn't stop. "She said that if she had a choice between Michelle being alive again, or me and Hayley she'd gladly wish us both away…she told me that she blames us for Michelle dying; if I had been a better match, or if Hayley hadn't been so…so weak. She called her weak, can you believe that? Hayley, of all people. And I was just sat there, taking it all…Like I always did, like Hayley always did. And then I snapped, and walked out of the room, grabbed my suitcase and left. She was still yelling as I got into the elevator, I could hear her."

"She's sick," House almost spat out, disgusted by how any mother could say such things to her own daughter.

"And Hayley misses her." Cameron said, her tone somewhere between sad and bitter.

"Hayley misses the ideal of a mother; someone to come home to and to talk to. She knows that that person is you, she just needs to adjust still." House told her and Cameron sighed, resignedly.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"I mean it, She's lucky to have you." House replied.

"I meant thanks for coming over."

"Thank you for calling me."

* * *

Tada! It's kind of sad, I know, but that's the way the story wanted to go. And it's sort of happy too, if you squint a bit and turn your head sideways. Ok then, maybe not. But reviews make me happy and a happy me makes happy chapters. That's not to say a sad me makes sad chapters but...I'm rambling now. You know the drill!!! 


	42. Chapter 42

Hooray!! New chapter, at last :) Don't shoot the author, hehe.

* * *

Hayley sipped at her orange juice, trying to wake herself up a little bit more. She had overslept by about three hours and only woken because of the bright sunlight that had been streaming through her bedroom window. It was a little after ten, and when she had woken up a single glance at her bedside clock had been enough to make her jump out of bed. She had been about to start yelling at her sister for not waking her up, when she realised it was a Sunday and she didn't have school. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, Hayley had then made her way towards the kitchen, fiercely hungry now that she was awake.

She smiled to herself, thinking of what she had seen in the living room. House and her sister, curled up on the sofa. House's 'bad' leg had been resting on the coffee table and Cameron was pressed next to him, her legs over his. His cane was propped against the arm of the sofa. They were both sound asleep, arms wrapped around each other. House had a strand of Cameron's hair wrapped around his fingers and they had both looked so peaceful that Hayley didn't want to wake them up. It was Sunday, after all, and none of them had anywhere important to be.

Hayley pottered around the kitchen, fixing herself breakfast. Just as she sat down to eat she heard the front door shut quietly, and a few seconds later Cameron walked into the kitchen; a blissful smile on her face.

"Good morning." Hayley said brightly, and Cameron jumped half out of her skin.

"Hayley!! God, you made me jump. I thought you were still in bed!" she babbled, hastening towards the coffee maker and pouring the liquid into her favourite cup.

"Apparently." Hayley said wryly, raising her eyebrow. "Sneaking guys out of the apartment, how sordid." Hayley giggled as a furious blush crept over Cameron's face.

"Nothing happened!" she protested and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Duh…you were fully dressed, on the sofa, and curled up like an old married couple-"

"Less of the old, thank you very much. I'm twenty-eight, not eighty-eight."

"Whatever." Hayley shrugged, "My point is; if anything had happened you would – I _hope_ - have moved into the bedroom and not stayed on the couch where innocent little me could have been scarred for life and left in need of intense therapy." By this point Hayley was laughing so much that the juice in the glass she was holding was perilously close to ending up on the floor. Cameron narrowed her eyes.

"I am not discussing my sex life with you. Not that there's anything to discuss." She hastened to add.

"I didn't particularly want to know anyway." Hayley smirked. There was a companionable silence as the two sisters sipped at their drinks.

"So, last night…" Cameron began. Hayley blushed.

"What about it?"

"Do you want to talk about it? Or are we going to just ignore it?" Hayley was silent for a moment, and then she shrugged.

"I don't want to talk about it. I was being stupid and emotional. We can forget it happened." Hayley twisted her pyjama sleeve tightly around itself.

"Don't do that to your clothes." Cameron said gently. Hayley allowed the fabric to unravel, watching as slowly unfolded, leaving only faded creases. A few moments passed, and Hayley stood up.

"I'm gonna go get dressed." Cameron nodded agreement, setting her coffee cup on the counter. Hayley turned to walk out of the kitchen, but Cameron called her back.

"You know I love you, right?" Cameron said. Hayley smiled, nodding.

* * *

"Do you have plans today?" Cameron asked to no-one in particular as she pottered around her bedroom, half-dressed. "No... do you want to do something? …That doesn't work either." She slipped a t-shirt over her head. "Would you like to meet up? God Allison, what are you, twelve?" Cameron stood in front of her dresser with hands on her hips, staring at her reflection in the mirror. "Get a hold of yourself." She admonished.

"Talking to you is the first sign of madness." Hayley said, popping her head through the door.

"I wasn't!" Cameron immediately protested, but Hayley rolled her eyes; falling backwards so that she flopped heavily onto Cameron's bed.

"Oh you _so_ were. And I quote 'God Allison, what are you, twelve? Get a hold of yourself.'" Hayley sat up slightly, leaning on her elbow and staring at her sister intently. "Call him."

"You call him." Cameron retorted, only realising once she had spoken how childish she sounded. Hayley raised her eyebrow.

"He's your boyfriend." She commented, and Cameron shrugged,

"No, he's not."

"But he wants to be." Hayley pointed out. "And you want to be his girlfriend again." Cameron sat down next to Hayley on the bed, suddenly feeling utterly confused.

"Do I though?" She murmured, falling backwards to lie beside her sister. Hayley however immediately scrambled into a sitting position, staring down at Cameron as if she had gone mad.

"Excuse me?" She sounded so scandalised that Cameron almost giggled. "Allie, you cannot seriously doubt this again! You are _in love_ with him. And he's in love with you and I have busted my butt to get you two back together, I'm not gonna let you ruin it." Hayley's threat sounded so comical that Cameron couldn't help laughing. Hayley tried to resist for a moment, her lips twitching as she tried to keep a straight face but pretty soon she was laughing too. Cameron reached out and knocked her backwards so that they were both lying on the bed giggling hysterically.

"You're crazy if you think you two aren't meant to be together." Hayley said a few minutes later when they had calmed down.

"Yeah well, you're just crazy." Cameron retorted. Hayley's answer was to grab a pillow from behind her and bash Cameron over the head with it.

"Hi, it's me...Cameron…I uh, I just wanted to say thanks. For coming over yesterday, I mean. And the circus; the circus was great too. But mainly thanks for coming over. And yeah…I guess I'll see you Monday. Unless you wanted to do something this evening…But we don't have to. I'm rambling. Speak to you later." The answer-phone beeped, signalling the end of Cameron's message. House smiled to himself, pressing the 'play' button for the third time since he had gotten home. _'You have __one__ new message' _the robotic voice announced and House's smile grew larger as Cameron's stuttered message began to play again.

* * *

When the phone rang later that afternoon, both Cameron sisters grabbed for it. Hayley reached it first, snatching the handset and gabbling a rushed "Hello" to the caller.

"_Who is it?_" Cameron mouthed, but Hayley turned away; blushing a deep red.

"Hey." She murmured, her voice tinged with girlish excitement. Cameron smiled, realising who Hayley was talking to. "I'm good, how are you?" Hayley paused, waiting for Kyle's reply. She turned back to face Cameron, still speaking into the phone; "I don't know, I think I was gonna do something with my sister…?" Cameron shook her head, telling Hayley it was fine to go out with Kyle. "But we can take a rain-check. What did you have in mind?" She giggled at Kyle's reply.

"Cool, I'll see you in an hour. Bye." Hayley pressed disconnect on the phone and turned back to Cameron, who was watching her little sister with a smile on her face.

"Someone's keen." She commented and Hayley grinned.

"He's taking me to lunch."

* * *

House stared at the phone. He had been holding it for about thirty minutes, just staring at it trying to figure out whether he should call Cameron back and willing her to call him. He knew that he should call her back, he wanted to call her back, but wasn't entirely sure Hayley wouldn't kill him for spoiling her plans. Sometimes he thought she enjoyed the secrecy more than anything; like actually getting him and Cameron back together. But then again, no-one knew Cameron better than Hayley, and so far everything the younger of the sisters had suggested had worked perfectly.

Resigned, House replaced the handset onto it's cradle, then jumped almost out of his skin when it immediately began to ring. He gave a cursory glance at the caller I.D and grinned, snatching the phone up.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Cameron replied.

An hour later House was stood leaning as nonchalantly as possible up against a lamp-post, waiting for Cameron. She was late. They had agreed to meet at a park about twenty minutes away from the hospital. It was closer to her apartment than to his, so if anyone were to be late, it should have been him. In all the time they had been dating, it was always Cameron who was left waiting for him. For a second or two he wondered whether she had stood him up, but then he spotted a flash of bright green coming round the corner. He recognised the scarf as Hayley's; he had bought it for her as a joke once, saying it made her look like Kermit the frog. It was surprisingly cold, for the time of year, and typically, Cameron was dressed accordingly. She was wearing a hat which matched the scarf wound around her neck, and her favourite black coat. Her hands were warm inside black gloves.

"You must be freezing." She called as she drew nearer to House. He was wearing a thin jacket over a t-shirt, and had regretted not changing to something warmer before he left the house. Not that he'd tell Cameron that.

"I'm fine." He shrugged. Cameron smirked knowingly, but let it go.

"Sorry I'm late. I decided to walk." House looked at her, taking in the healthy glow in her cheeks, to the way even her eyes were smiling at him. This was the woman who had clung to him in floods of tears the previous evening?

"Good morning?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Hayley's fine. I'm fine. And I saw an ice-cream truck on the way over here – want one?" House was amazed, but nodded. Cameron reached out a gloved hand and linked her fingers with House's, gently tugging him forward.

* * *

Who knew I could be so fluffy? Reviews a very happy writer :D 


	43. Chapter 43

Ok, hands up if you thought I'd abandoned this story?? I'm soooo sorry for the lack of update - life has been crazy with Uni work (which sucks, to be honest) and everytime I sat down to write, a complete load of rubbish came out. I'm not gonna post rubbish - which is why this one chapter has taken so long. Sorry sorry sorry, but hope it's worth the wait!!

* * *

"Ice cream?" Hayley asked incredulously. "You went for ice cream?" Cameron shrugged, her back facing her younger sister as she prepared vegetables for dinner.

"What's wrong with ice cream?"

"Well for starters it's… well it's…" Hayley drew a blank, not entirely sure why she objected to her sister and House sharing a frozen dessert.

"There's nothing wrong with ice cream, Hayley. We went for a walk, talked for a while and then we went home. That's all." The conclusiveness of Cameron's statement grabbed Hayley's attention.

"You're _lying_!" She stated gleefully. Cameron's shoulders tensed a tiny bit, as she scooped up handfuls of vegetables and placed them into the pan that was waiting on the stove.

"What would I lie about?" she asked, her voice slightly wary. Hayley hopped gracefully down from the counter where she had been sitting and leaned against the refrigerator; surveying her big sister.

"Oh I don't know. You and House…a romantic walk…in an empty park…" A tell-tale tinge of pink spread over Cameron's cheeks. "Allison Cameron!" Hayley scolded.

"What?" Cameron asked; her voice as flippant as she could possibly make it.

"Don't give me 'what'," Hayley grinned. "What did you do?" Hayley paused for a second, and then wrinkled her nose. "Actually, I don't think I need all the gory details."

"It wasn't like that!" Cameron objected, setting a lid on the saucepan of vegetables and turning away from the stove.

"Of course not." Hayley drawled sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at her big sister.

"It wasn't! We barely even did anything, we just walked for a bit then sat down in this quiet little picnic area and then before we knew it-" Before Cameron could continue Hayley had slapped her hands over her ears and had screwed her eyes shut.

"Ew ew ew!! Details I _so_ do not need, if you don't mind." Cameron smirked and pulled Hayley's hands from her ears. Hayley warily opened one eye; staring at her sister.

"It wasn't like that. It was nice." She smiled almost wistfully and Hayley stuck out her tongue.

"You didn't…"

"No!! God Hayley, we aren't even dating right now. Sex is not on the cards. Not right now anyway."

"And now we're changing the subject." Hayley said, reaching past Cameron to turn off the burner on the stove. "Dinner?"

* * *

Wilson set his beer on the coffee table and stared at House, who was casually eating a slice of pizza.

"If the wind changes you'll stay that way." House commented, and Wilson shook his head slightly.

"So you two are…" He said, trying to think of the right word.

"We two are…what? Dating? Not yet."

"But…you said…in the park?" House raised his eyebrows.

"We went for a walk in the park. We talked, that's all." Wilson raised his eyebrow.

"If you think I'm falling for that you've got another thing coming."

"Right." House shrugged, taking another slice of pizza from the box.

"Come on! You can't _not_ give me the details!"

"Double negatives are not your friend, James." Was House's only reply, before he reached over and grabbed the remote; pointing it at the TV and sitting back to watch cartoons. Wilson just stared incredulously. He had never known House to skimp on details; House was definitely a 'kiss-and-teller'. Wilson scrutinised his friend's face; searching for any hidden tell, but House genuinely seemed interested in the TV. Eventually Wilson gave up, selecting another slice of pizza and leaning back against the couch. Only when he began chuckling at some cartoon character did House allow himself to smile.

* * *

"Hayley you'll be late!" Cameron called as Hayley flicked through the pile of mail that was in their mailbox.

"I have a math test first period, I don't care!" Hayley called back, and Cameron narrowed her eyes.

"Bring the mail with you if you want, but move it! If you're late to school then I'm late to work and if I'm late to work-"

"You don't get to play kissy-face with House?" Hayley interrupted, grinning. She scooped up the various letters from the mailbox and walked towards her sister. Cameron was smirking.

"Funny. For starters, you know we haven't seen each other since that afternoon in the park. And also, I saw you with Kyle the other night you little hypocrite." Hayley stuck her tongue out at her big sister, but blushed at the same time.

* * *

"Junk…junk…school thing…junk…mine…oooh." Hayley held up a formal looking envelope, waving it in front of her sister's face.

"I'm driving Hayley!"

"But it looks important. It's addressed to you and it's all pretty and posh. And it has the hospital stamp on it…" Cameron sighed at her sister's hinting.

"Open it, then." Hayley had torn the letter out of the envelope before Cameron had finished speaking.

"Huh. It's an invitation." Hayley muttered, scanning through the piece of card she now held in her hand. She cast a sideways glance at her sister. Cameron was still focused on the road.

"What for?" she asked absently.

"Hospital benefit. Casino night, but with a 'formal dinner' afterward. Cool." At the mention of the word 'casino' Cameron began to blush, and Hayley grinned to herself.

"It's on the 31st October. Oh God, is this thing gonna be themed?" Hayley asked in genuine horror.

"I doubt it." Cameron reassured her. "Casino night was fun the last time." A smile played on Cameron's lips as she thought of House's reaction to seeing her in her dress. She'd worn it on one of their dates, months ago, and it had had the same effect then. Seeing her sister's wistful smile Hayley had to bite her tongue.

"Yeah…I remember you telling me. Hey, tickets are only $25, and the invite says 'Dr. Cameron plus one – can I go?'" Hayley asked. Cameron hesitated for a moment. "What's wrong?" Hayley asked.

"You're too young to gamble." Cameron replied, turning the car into Hayley's school parking lot.

"Well then, why don't I hang out upstairs in House's office while you're frittering away your hard-earned salary, and then join you for the dinner? More my thing anyway…" Hayley reasoned, trying desperately not to sound as if she and House had already planned the entire evening out.

"Maybe. I'll think about it."

"_Pleeeeeease_," Hayley whined. "Pretty please with a cherry on top. I'll be _sooooo_ good." She even went as far as fluttering her eyelashes, which only served to make Cameron giggle.

"Fine, if you want to come then come! It's not that interesting." She commented, trying to shake the image of House's stunned face from her mind.

"I bet it could be." Hayley remarked.

* * *

So there we go. I'm sorry it's not longer, I wanted to give you guys something to make up for the absence but it's just not happening so thought I'd post this before SpaceCadet lynches me via PM. I wouldn't put it past her. Hehe, maybe some reviews would spur me into writing??? xxx 


	44. Chapter 44

I wrote this on the train. Therefore I blame any typos on the fact that trains are wobbly and my laptop kept skidding across the table...Now that's out of the way - HOORAY for updates :) They make me happy, and I'm the one writing the story!!! Reviews are good too. Very good...Enjoy :)

* * *

"Am I a genius, or am I a genius?" Hayley crowed down the phone line.

"You're a genius." House conceded, to which Hayley replied,

"I know." House laughed, despite himself, which caught the attention of the three Fellows in the adjoining conference room. Cameron in particular looked inquisitively in his direction, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out who was making him laugh. He recognised a glimmer of jealousy pass over her face.

"House? You still there?" Hayley asked, bringing back his attention.

"Yeah."

"I was saying…it's all going well so far my end, how about yours?" House resisted laughing again; a glimpse in the direction of the conference room told him that Cameron was still looking at him and he stuck his tongue out at her. She blushed as he told Hayley;

"I have an appointment with Cuddy and her fun-bags in an hour."

"Ew!" Hayley exclaimed, "I really did not need that mental image. I'm scarred for life."

"Hey, if this works I'll pay for lifelong therapy." Hayley scoffed;

"All the therapy in the world wouldn't fix my issues - I wouldn't want to bankrupt you;." Her voice was half-laughing, half-sombre, and House was brought up short for a moment.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine; just sick of you and my sister messing around."  
"If I wasn't so afraid you'd murder me in my sleep for messing up our well-laid plans, I'd go into that office right now and-"

"STOP right there…unless you want to pay for some serious therapy that is one visual I _really_ do not need. EVER."

* * *

"Dr. Cuddy, your 10.30 appointment is waiting." Cuddy's assistant patched through on the intercom.

"Thanks Lydia." Cuddy barely glanced up from the papers she was reading through; her appointment was with a pharmaceutical rep. who had sent through a sheaf of papers about his latest 'merchandise'. At least, that's what it said on the post-it note that had been pasted onto the front of the papers. She wasn't looking forward to this appointment, not since she had realised that there was less than a month to plan the hospital's next benefit.

Cuddy finally looked up when her office door opened and she heard the familiar thud of House's cane accompanying his footsteps. She groaned inwardly.

"House, I have a 10.30 appointment," she began, glancing past him into the foyer of her office. No-one who looked remotely like a pharmaceutical rep was stood waiting. In fact, no-one was stood waiting – even her assistant had disappeared.

"I know," House grinned, interrupting her thoughts. "It's me." Immediately she was intrigued, not that she would let House see that. "Dr. Geershoug at your service…get it? Geershoug; anagram of Greg House?" Cuddy sighed, raising an eyebrow and indicating for him to sit in the chair opposite her desk.

"What do you need?" she asked, her tone both weary and wary. She was slightly perturbed by the wicked grin on House's face.

"I need for you to let me plan this benefit." He replied, and Cuddy had to bite her tongue to keep herself from bursting out laughing.

"You? Plan a hospital benefit? Not likely."

"Well, technically Hayley would be planning it, but officially… come on, Cuddles, you know you want to…" House was one step away from batting his eyelashes at her, an image the Dean of Medicine found quite disturbing.

"Who's Hayley?" she asked,

"Cameron's sister."

"Why on earth would I let Dr. Cameron's sister – who if I remember rightly is still in _high school_, plan a hospital benefit?" she asked suspiciously. House shifting rested his elbows on the arms of the chair and settled back into it, his weight to get comfortable.

"I was hoping you'd ask that question…"

* * *

An hour later House left Cuddy's office feeling extremely pleased with himself. Cuddy however more confused than pleased; she had a strange feeling of foreboding about allowing Hayley Cameron – the teenaged sister of one of her employees – plan a benefit which would be attended by hundreds of hospital staff as well as many potential benefactors.

She couldn't quite believe that she had agreed to it, but House…well he was House, and as usual he had been annoyingly convincing. Plus, the diagnostics department hadn't been functioning as well since House and Cameron's dramatic break-up and if Cuddy was honest, somewhere deep inside her she was quite excited to be playing a part in getting them back together.

House tried very hard not to smile as he made his way back to his department. He walked as nonchalantly as possible past his office, consciously and deliberately ignoring Cameron, who was alone in the conference room, and strode as purposefully as his cane would allow into Wilson's office. Without knocking.

Fortunately the oncologist wasn't with a patient; which made it all the easier for House to throw his cane to him and flop heavily onto the small couch that stood against the wall. Wilson just barely caught the thrown object, and looked curiously at House.

"Are you high?"

"Nope." House replied, delving into his pocket and retrieving his cell-phone. He pressed a few buttons and held the phone to his ear. Wilson watched him, confused, as House proceeded to have one of the most bizarre conversations that Wilson himself had ever witnessed.

"Baby Eagle…Marshmallows has agreed…Operation Wooden-Leg is in progress…" Apparently the person on the other end of the phone was just as confused as Wilson; which the oncologist found both reassuring and disturbing – had House gone completely mad? This thought was proved false a few moments later when House spoke again.

"Hayley Cameron, you are the worst secret agent in the world…" As soon as he heard House say Hayley's name, Wilson was able to make a little sense of House's mystery act. In the time that House and Cameron were together Wilson had witnessed several incidents of House and the younger Cameron playing off against each other, in constant competitions to see who could get the last word. "Yes you are...No I do not 'suck'…Do you want to know what Cuddy said or not?" Again, Wilson's attention was seized. He watched House carefully, for any hint of anything that might shed some light, but House's body language was as elusive as his actual use of English.

"She said yes." House held the phone away from his ear as both he and Wilson were subjected to a high-pitched squeal of excitement completely uncharacteristic of the Hayley Cameron they both knew. "Hold your horses; she said that we can do what we like within reason, but she has the final say there were a load of other rules and stuff." House grinned at Hayley's reply, told her that he would call her again later and disconnected the call.

He turned his attention to Wilson, slowly; as if he was only noticing the oncologist's presence in the room.

"What exactly has Cuddy agreed to?" Wilson asked worriedly.

* * *

Two days later Hayley was sat on a chair outside of a dressing room cubicle, inside a shop filled wall-to-wall with dresses. She had persuaded Cameron to use her Saturday to go around various shops to find them both something to wear for the benefit, taking the 'formal dinner' as a sign that they both had to have formal dresses. Cameron had protested at first, but had been easily persuaded. Hayley however was now greatly regretting her persuasion; even if House had told her that he would buy the dresses, watching her sister scrutinise every single aspect of two dozen absolutely perfect dresses was turning out to be her idea of a nightmare.

She had found the dress she liked in the very first shop; a pale turquoise number which fell just above her knees and had a skirt which flew around when she twirled. It made her feel decidedly girly, but both sisters were agreed that it was the perfect dress for her. It wasn't so easy for the elder Cameron, they were now in the fourth shop that sold or hired out formal wear, and Cameron was trying on dress number thirty-something.

"I know you're that bored, why don't you call Kyle and ask him to pick you up?" Cameron called from inside her cubicle.

"I'm not bored." Hayley lied, rolling her eyes as she examined her fingernails with the utmost scrutiny.

"I can practically hear you rolling your eyes!" Cameron laughed, and Hayley felt herself blush.

"I said I'd help you find a dress, so I'm helping you find a dress."

"We may not have to look much further…" Cameron replied hesitantly, pushing open the dressing cubicle door and stepping shyly out into the main dressing room. Hayley gaped; the dress was one she had chosen on a whim – Cameron had protested, not only because it was a deep scarlet colour – almost the exact colour of the dress she had worn to the first casino night, but also because of the way the dress plunged dramatically at the back, revealing more skin than she had shown in public for years.

Hayley had persisted however and now Cameron was stood in front of the mirror admiring herself.

"This is the one." She exclaimed happily, trying to abate all thoughts of House when he saw her wearing it.

* * *

"You spent _how much_?" House exclaimed when Hayley showed him the receipt for the dresses.

"I persuaded Allie to buy her dress, rather than just hire it. You'll thank me later." House sighed, folding the receipt and tucking it into the pocket of his shirt.

"She doesn't know you used my credit card?"

"Blissfully unaware…and her bank statement doesn't come until three days after the benefit, so she won't know the money's not gone from her account." Hayley reached into her bag and pulled out a Polaroid photograph.

"Here," she said as she handed it to House. He stared at it, trying to make sense of why she had handed him a photograph that didn't actually seem to have a subject; it was just a square of deep red colour.

"Am I supposed to guess what it is? Or are you going to tell me?" Hayley smirked.

"It's a colour sample…kind of. So that you can buy Allie a corsage. Her dress is that red colour, so I think you should get white flowers – but check them against the picture so it matches. I persuaded her to buy white shoes so it'll all fit." Hayley looked extremely pleased with herself.

"You have done well Grasshopper." She smirked and made a tiny bow.

"So what colour is your dress?" House asked, and Hayley blushed, slipping her hand back into her bag to retrieve her cell phone. She played with it for a few moments, scrolling and pressing several buttons until she handed it over. House smiled at the image of Hayley wearing her dress. She was on tiptoes and sticking out her tongue, clearly joking around with her sister.

"It's a bit girly…" Hayley began,

"You look great." House replied.

* * *

Do you still love me? 


	45. Chapter 45

"I...am incredibly bored." Cameron complained, walking into the lounge and slumping heavily onto the couch. Sat in the armchair across the room from her, Hayley was surrounded by notepads and textbooks. She barely looked up from her homework.

"It's nine a.m on a Saturday, you can't be bored."

"I am bored." Cameron replied.

"Enjoy your day off." Hayley suggested, but Cameron shrugged.

"There's nothing to do…" she whined.

"There's always stuff to do." Hayley muttered. "You could clean the kitchen…" She flicked through the pages of a two-inch thick textbook, and frowned when a cushion suddenly flew towards her.

"I haven't had a Saturday off in over a month – I am _not_ spending it cleaning the kitchen. Let's go somewhere." Hayley groaned. Cameron had been restless for the past few days, since they had been dress shopping for the hospital benefit. Hayley knew that House had been playing it cool – she had instructed him to do so, to see what Cameron's reaction would be. Clearly her restlessness was due to his barely talking to her all week. It was the reaction Hayley had hoped for, but it didn't stop Cameron's whining from annoying her.

"I can't – this assignment is due on Wednesday and I'm barely halfway through."

"What's the subject?"

"Biology." Hayley groaned, setting the textbook down on her lap and narrowing her eyes at her sister. "You have to let me concentrate; this is part of my grade for the semester."

"Come out with me and I'll help you when we get back."

"I'm supposed to do it myself," Hayley replied firmly, "and I can't get it done with you bugging me!"

"You do realise I'm the older sister, right?" Cameron asked, barely concealing her desire to laugh. Hayley looked at her, trying to frown but finding herself laughing instead. Cameron was sat cross-legged on the sofa, hands clasped as if she was begging, and blinking her eyes rapidly at her little sister.

"You are such a loser." Hayley giggled. Cameron untangled herself.

"Come to the movies with me and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the weekend, if that's what you want. Please, Hayley? Pretty please? With cherries on top?" Hayley glanced around her at the mass of papers and textbooks and sighed.

"You are such a bad influence on me."

* * *

Half an hour later the two Cameron sisters were stood in the foyer of the movie theatre, trying to decide between nachos or hotdogs. Hayley was bargaining for nachos on the basis that they could be shared more easily when a voice behind them said;

"Why don't you just buy both?" Cameron jumped almost out of her skin, but Hayley calmly turned around, smirking.

"Are you paying?" she asked, and House grinned, looking from Hayley to Cameron and back again.

"What are you doing here?" Cameron asked, confused by the knowing looks on both her sister's and House's faces.

"I was invited." House replied, nodding at Hayley who had the decency to look a little embarrassed when Cameron stared at her.

"I don't get it…?"

"Hayley called me telling me she had an assignment due on Wednesday so please would I baby-sit her sister while she worked on it…" House explained, and Hayley whacked him on the arm with her purse.

"That's not what I said." She sounded annoyed, but she was grinning. She turned to Cameron, who looked as if she couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or pleased. "I'm sorry Allie, but I really need to get this assignment done, and I knew House didn't have plans today so I figured you two could keep each other company." Cameron looked from her sister to House, and smiled when he looked down at her with such a look of innocence that she almost laughed.

"Fine," she agreed.

"Good. I'm taking the car home with me, House – you can drop Allie home, right?" House nodded, dangling the keys to his bike in front of her face. Hayley smiled and leaned forward to hug her sister goodbye.

"Enjoy yourselves!" she said, before turning around and practically skipping out of the movie theatre. This impromptu date hadn't been a part of her 'grand plan' but sometimes she got frustrated, and felt mean for making House jump through hoops to get to Cameron.

* * *

An hour later House and Cameron were sat comfortably in their seats, watching a cheesy romantic comedy – Cameron's choice. Ten minutes into the movie House had reached his arm around Cameron, and she now was snuggled close next to him. Their popcorn was resting on House's lap – the perfect excuse for several highly-orchestrated touches of hands when they both reached for some.

"This movie is a bunch of crap." House whispered into Cameron's ear. His breath tickled against her neck and she giggled, turning her head to look at him.

"Company's pretty great though."

"Oh yeah?" House murmured, kissing her gently on the forehead.

"Yeah." Cameron repeated, before returning House's kiss.

* * *

"So are you going to this benefit thing? House asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. He and Cameron were hand-in-hand as they walked to his motorcycle, slowly due to House leaning on his cane. Recently he had had to exaggerate the limp, after finding that he had developed a tendency to use it as more of an accessory. Hayley had irately pointed this out to him, and threatened to use it as a weapon if he didn't start acting like a cripple again.

"Yup." Cameron answered briefly and House continued;

"Do you have a date?" Cameron felt shivers run up her spine at the softness of House's voice – it always got to her when he let down his gruff exterior. She nodded, leaning gently against House's bike, parked conspicuously in a disabled bay.

"Hayley convinced me to take her; she's not coming to the casino thing but the dinner afterwards. We got our dresses a few days ago, and somehow she persuaded me to buy mine. I'll never wear it again after this, I can't believe I spent so much on one item of clothing-" Cameron's mini-ramble was abruptly cut off when House suddenly leaned over and kissed her. After a moment Cameron's arms found their way around him and he pulled her close up against him.

Minutes later they drew apart, breathless.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you." House said, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

"You see me almost every day at work, we talk on the phone…what's to miss?"

"It's not the same. I love you, and I'm going to prove it to you."

"You don't have to prove anything to me." Cameron objected, but House shook his head, before kissing her gently on the nose.

"I'm still going to prove it to you."

* * *

As usual...sorry for the looooooong wait, but reviews are still greatly appreciated!!! xx


	46. Chapter 46

* * *

This chapter has taken so long to write, I had such serious writer's block until a few days ago...but I like this chapter. I hope you do to - please review!! (Please note - that wasn't meant to rhyme.) Also, I haven't dedicated a chapter in a long time - this is for spacecadet1922; Get Well Soon.

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"I'm home!" Hayley called into the apartment, slipping her shoes off and setting her bag down by the front door. "Allie? You home?" She glanced at her watch, it was almost seven – Hayley herself was home late but Cameron should have been home by five at the latest as she was only scheduled in the clinic for the day.

The diagnostics department had finished working on a case four days ago and since then Cuddy had enlisted House and his three fellows to work almost full-time in the clinic. The three younger doctors had all wondered why, especially when House had hardly complained about the arrangement; none of them knew that this was part of the Dean of Medicine's condition for allowing House and Hayley to do as they pleased with the hospital benefit.

"Aaaaaaa-llison?" Hayley called again, and this time there came a muffled voice and what sounded like something falling off a higher surface. Confused, Hayley walked further into the apartment. There were two mugs on the coffee table; one of them had lipstick on the rim, and two plates beside them, scattered with what looked like chocolate cake crumbs.

Hayley continued into the kitchen, almost certain of what she would find.

"Good evening." She said, trying to keep laughter out of her voice. House and Cameron were both in the kitchen; he was washing dishes and she was drying them but Hayley knew the pair of them enough to know that about two minutes before they had been doing something that certainly wasn't the dishes. If anything the scarlet blush creeping up from Cameron's shirt was an easy giveaway as to their previous activities.

"Hey." House replied, turning around and flicking bubbles at Hayley. "Your dinner's on the stove."

"I'll heat it up for you." Cameron finally spoke, moving across the kitchen. As her face came into profile Hayley could see her cheeks were red, but there was a small smile playing on her lips.

"Actually, I was just gonna take a shower, so I'll eat in a bit, yeah?"

"Ok. Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah it was fun, thanks. Kyle took me to watch his band practise and then we went for a walk."  
"I didn't know Kyle was in a band?" House reached over the drainer to grab a dishtowel, drying his hands.

"No? I'm sure I told you. They're pretty good, actually."

"I've heard some of their songs, they're good." Cameron added, standing by House and leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I'm sure they are." House muttered, winking at Hayley over Cameron's head. Resisting the urge to laugh she rolled her eyes.

"I'm going for a shower. Oh, and by the way Allie; your shirt is on inside out." She smirked and walked out of the kitchen. Cameron blushed furiously and hid her face against House's shoulder.

"That was so…" she groaned, but House just grinned, reasoning;

"She's caught us in far worse situations than that."

"…If she had come home five minutes later…"

"Still might not have been as bad as some of what she's walked in on."

"God, she's gonna be scarred for life." Cameron moaned, her face still buried against House's shoulder.

"She's not an idiot Allie, she's practically grown-up." Cameron pulled back

"It's still not the best example to set though, is it, half-naked in the kitchen with a guy I'm not even dating."

"You'd be happier half-naked in the kitchen with a guy you _are_ dating?" House was grinning, but Cameron tried to keep a straight face.

"I'd actually prefer not to be half-naked in the kitchen at all, regardless of who it's with." She retorted, but when House kissed her, she suddenly smiled.

"That's better." He kissed her again and Cameron allowed herself to relax into him slightly before she pulled away again. House groaned.

"We can't keep doing this, House."

"I thought we were pretty good at it," House joked half-heartedly.

"You know what I mean; it's been months since we've been together. You know I'm in love with you, and I'm fairly sure you're in love with me-"

"You know I am," House interrupted. She smiled, but continued.

"But we aren't together! We're tiptoeing around each other and flirting and … and making out in my kitchen and I don't want to get further involved in this unless…unless we define it." House smiled; Cameron was so nervous she seemed younger, and more innocent.

"We…are…dating." He told her, punctuating the words with kisses. She gave a small sigh, smiling.

"That's good." Cameron stood on tiptoes and kissed him gently.

* * *

Later, after House had left, Hayley flopped down on the sofa next to her sister.

"What are we watching?" she asked.

"Dirty Dancing." Cameron replied, barely taking her eyes off the TV. She passed along the bowl of popcorn that she had resting in her lap. Hayley looked closely at her sister; Cameron was focused on the TV screen but the telltale signs of her activities with House were all over her neck. Hayley smirked.

"You two are worse than a pair of teenagers." Cameron still didn't turn her head to face her sister, but she blushed slightly. "Fine," Hayley shrugged. "Don't tell me. We'll just sit here, eating the popcorn and watching Patrick Swayze and pretend I didn't find you practically having sex in our kitchen this afternoon…"

"We weren't having sex!" Cameron exclaimed, turning in her seat to stare at her sister. Hayley giggled.

"I said practically…but if I hadn't walked in, can you honestly tell me that something along those lines wouldn't have happened?"

"Not in the kitchen." Cameron muttered, grabbing a sofa pillow and wrapping her arms around it. Hayley tried very hard not to smile, but her big sister suddenly looked like an adolescent school-girl; smiling like she had a secret but at the same time nervous about other people's opinion.

"We're officially dating again." Cameron said.

"Really?!" Hayley squealed excitedly. Cameron nodded. "That's so great!"

"But we're going to take it slower this time. Before we moved too fast, and I was…well there was all the stuff going on with you, and I was worried and he was there…this time we're going to go one step at a time."

"So what was this afternoon? Three steps at once?" Hayley asked, an eyebrow quirked.

"This afternoon was acting on impulse."

"Is that what it's called now?" Hayley giggled, and Cameron swung the pillow at her..

"It isn't going to happen again. We're adults, not horny adolescents. We can control ourselves." She turned back in her seat, to face the TV again. "Now watch the film or we'll miss the best bit." Hayley grinned to herself and snuggled up next to her sister. Ten minutes later they were both snacking on the popcorn and sighing over Patrick Swayze.

"_Nobody puts Baby in a corner._" They sighed in unison.

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Do you like?? Please please please review!! 


	47. Chapter 47

I told you all that the next update would be sooner!! Hooray for me :) I like this chapter and I hope you do too...please review either way.

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"Trick or treat!" the sound of several children's voices resounded through the front door of Cameron and Hayley's apartment. The two sisters, sitting comfortably on their sofa, looked at each other.

"It's your turn." Cameron smirked, and Hayley groaned. It seemed as if every child in their building, plus several dozen others, had come by their apartment that evening, regardless of the fact that it was Saturday; several days before Halloween.

When the first lot of kids had knocked on the door the sisters had both panicked - the hospital benefit was on Halloween night and for a moment they thought they had missed it, but the panic was assuaged when a parent accompanying the children explained that because Halloween fell on a school night she and the other parents in the building had agreed to go trick or treating on the Saturday before.

"_Trick or treat!_" The call of the children came louder and more urgent and Hayley got to her feet, grabbing the bowl of candy that had been left on the coffee table. She fixed a grin on her face and opened the door wide, to reveal three little kids dressed as fairies, a woman dressed as a nun, and House stood behind them with the most confused of grins on his face. Hayley laughed, holding out the bowl of candy to the already hyper children who reached out and took a small chocolate bar each, slipping them into the little bags they all carried and mumbling 'thank you's.

"You're welcome," Hayley told them as they hurried off to knock on the next door. She narrowed her eyes at House, who was barely containing his laughter.

"What?" She asked.

"_Trick or treat!_" He joked. Hayley rolled her eyes and started to shut the door but House held it open with his cane. "What, no treats? I came in costume and everything." He whined.

"You look exactly the same as you do every other day…" Hayley told him, confused. She was grinning though, knowing that House had come over to see her sister – unable to spend more than a few hours away from her.

"Nuh-uh!" House objected, a perfect imitation of the thirteen year old girl he had treated in the clinic the previous afternoon. He lowered his voice and leaned towards Hayley conspiratorially. "I came…as a cripple." He twirled his cane around his fingers, jumping from one foot to the other. Hayley giggled as the phone began ringing inside the apartment. Seconds later Cameron called;

"Hayley! It's Kyle." Hayley stood aside to allow House into the apartment, shoving the candy bowl into his hand.

"Be there in a second." She called back.

"Hey." House announced himself, walking into the living room. At the sound of his voice Cameron jumped almost out of her seat.

"God! You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"Trick or treating. Obviously." House smirked, sitting down on the couch next to her and dumping the bowl of candy in her lap.

"Yeah…it's been a weird night."

"Tell me about it; in the elevator on the way up I had a fascinating conversation with Snow White, a bunny rabbit, Count Dracula and their escort, Puss in Boots."

"Otherwise known as Megan, Jessica, Robbie and their mom." Cameron giggled. "Happy Halloween."

"And there I was thinking we had plans for Halloween. Gambling, music, dancing…Cuddy getting drunk…sound familiar?"

"Vaguely." Cameron replied, snuggling up against House. He put his arm around her shoulders, cuddling her closer.

"Are you gonna be my date?" He asked, unwrapping a piece of candy with his free hand.

"I might…" Cameron shrugged absently. House held the candy up to her lips and she leant forward to bite it out of his hand, but he pulled it away from her, popping it into his own mouth.

"Be my date." He said, mouth full of candy. Cameron smiled, her eyes glinting wickedly.

"Convince me."

* * *

"Allie, do we have plans today?" Hayley asked as she wandered into the kitchen. "Oh!" She jumped, surprised to see House stood at the stove, pushing an omelette around a pan. Cameron was perched on the countertop, eating a slice of toast and with a cup of coffee her side. They were both fully dressed, and Cameron smiled at her sister, who was still wearing pyjamas despite the fact that it was nearly noon.

"Not that I was aware of, why? Did you want to do something?" Hayley shook her head.

"Kyle's band has a booking on Wednesday, it's their first proper function and he wants me to watch the rehearsal. He's coming by in an hour…do you two think you can restrain yourselves until I'm out of the apartment?" Cameron spluttered into her coffee, and House turned his attention back to his omelette, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed.

"What time will you be back?" Cameron asked once she had recovered. Hayley shrugged.

"Probably not until after dinner, maybe nine? He'll drop me back."

"Okay. Call if you need anything."

"Can I borrow your black jacket please?" Hayley batted her eyelids. Cameron's black jacket was her favourite.

"Yeah, it's in my closet." Cameron replied, but Hayley shook her head, looking sheepish.

"Actually, it isn't…I already checked." Cameron rolled her eyes, sliding down from the countertop.

"I put it in their last night, you can't have checked properly." She walked past Hayley, heading for her bedroom to check her closet. As soon as Hayley heard the bedroom door open she began questioning House.

"You stayed over?!" she practically hissed at him. House shook his head.

"I slept on the couch, nothing happened." Hayley raised an eyebrow.

"_Nothing_ happened? If nothing happened why did you look all embarrassed earlier? And why did Allie practically choke on her coffee?" It was House's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Is that a conversation you really want to have with me?" He asked. Hayley made a face.

"Fine, you win. But staying over – even if it is on the couch - isn't exactly how we planned things. A big gesture isn't exactly a big gesture if you're all lovey-dovey in the first place!"

"Did you ever think that maybe your sister doesn't _need_ a big gesture?" House asked simply.

"It was your idea in the first place!" Hayley had to fight not to raise her voice, but House was being exasperating.

"I know, and I still want to go ahead with it but I don't see why I should invent reasons not to be with Cameron, when she clearly doesn't need all that much persuading about our relationship!" House retorted, now almost as equally exasperated.

"I'm not saying you should put her off, but this was _your_ idea House, _your_ plan! I've been lying to her for weeks, pretending your leg isn't healed when it's fine, going behind her back. I've never, ever kept anything from her and now you're going to turn around and tell me that there's no point?"

"Of course there's a point. And what happens at this benefit will mean just as much to her if we're already back together than if we were still apart. You forget, I love your sister just as much as you do." Hayley was prevented from replying by Cameron coming back into the kitchen, holding the black jacket in her hand.

"It was in the closet, right where I said it was." She told Hayley, who took it from her.

"I guess I can't have looked properly. I'm going to go shower and get dressed."

"Is she ok?" Cameron asked House after Hayley had left the kitchen, and the two doctors had heard the sound of her bedroom door shutting. "Did she say anything to you?"

"Not really…we discussed the finer points of omelette making." House lied. Cameron wrinkled her nose, confused.

"Hayley doesn't like omelettes, unless they're from this one restaurant in New York…" she wondered aloud.

"Exactly, her excellent input was that one only that one restaurant should be allowed to make and sell omelettes. And I pointed out that she's never had an omelette cooked by me…"

"Ohh." Cameron replied, her tone still a little doubtful. All doubt was put aside however when House smiled at her, asking;

"Seeing as you have no other plans, how would you like to spend the day with me?"

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Like or dislike? Love or loathe? Either way, please click the little button and type the words into the box...thank you!!!


	48. Chapter 48

I was re-reading through all my old chapters the other day and realised that it's been almost a year since I started this story. Woah. I've kind of decided I would like to finish it exactly one year after I started...or as close to that as possible...which means the final two chapters (after this one) will be on there way within the next two weeks. That makes me incredibly sad...so I need lots and lots and lots of reviews - there are 256 people on the alert list for this story and oh my word I think I would scream if you all reviewed. ENJOY!!!

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"We're going to be late." Cameron complained. Hayley rolled her eyes, looking in the hall mirror to check her hair. Cameron checked the clock on the side table. "We're going to be very late."

"No, we're not. Chill out."

"The cab is ten minutes late, therefore, we're going to be late."

"Actually…the cab isn't coming." Hayley twisted another hairclip into her hair, pinning back several stray tendrils. Behind her, Cameron's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean, the cab isn't coming? I called and booked a cab, why aren't they coming?"

"I called and cancelled." Hayley answered simply, ignoring the look of disbelief on her big sister's face.

"Did you have a particular reason for cancelling?"

"House is on his way, in a limo." Hayley told her, turning away from the mirror just as there was a knock on the door. Cameron reached for it, but Hayley got there first – tugging it open to reveal House, dressed in a tux and balancing two boxes in the hand that wasn't resting on his cane. Hayley grinned and stepped aside to let House see Cameron.

"Wow. You look…wow." House was speechless at the sight of Cameron, dressed in a floor –length scarlet coloured dress. It was a halter-neck and when Cameron gave a bashful twirl he saw that it was almost backless, revealing a perfectly pale expanse of skin.

"The word you're looking for is 'hot'." Hayley whispered conspiratorially, leaning towards House. Cameron blushed.

"Hayley…" she protested, but House interrupted.

"You look better than hot." He told her. "These are for you two." Leaning his cane against the door-jamb House gave Hayley and Cameron each one of the boxes he had been holding. Hayley smiled at him and opened the box, revealing a dainty corsage made of purple and white flowers. The purple was almost the exact same shade of Hayley's dress, which was more modest than her sisters – it had spaghetti straps and a skirt which flowed to just around her knees. She lifted the corsage out of the box and House helped her to tie it around her wrist.

"Thank you, it's beautiful." She smiled. House turned to Cameron, who was staring at her own corsage in awe.

"How did you know what kind of flowers would match?" she asked, almost inaudibly. House reached out and took the corsage from her, looping the ribbon around her wrist and tying it gently.

"Magic." He grinned. Cameron smirked.

"Hayley told you."

"She might have." House leaned forward and kissed Cameron, reaching around her waist and pulling her close to him.

"Ahem." Hayley cleared her throat, reminding House and Cameron of her presence before they decided to just skip the elaborately planned evening.

"We should get going, the limo's downstairs." House linked his fingers through Cameron's and gestured to Hayley to lead the way. They walked to the elevator; House and Cameron hand-in-hand and Hayley almost dancing along in front of them. Cameron leaned close to whisper into House's ear;

"Happy Halloween."

* * *

"This place looks great." Cameron commented, gazing around her. The clinic had been transformed into an elaborate, decadent casino – completely unrecognisable from its usual state. At her side, Hayley beamed.

"It's okay." House shrugged, handing her a flute-glass of champagne and ignoring the fleeting look of outrage on Hayley's face. He winked at her, telling her he was only pretending. In actual fact House was impressed at how good it looked. Hayley had insisted that the décor had to be as close a match to the first Casino benefit as possible; trying to recreate what House had told her was the first night he actually looked at Cameron and saw more than just a pretty face and a lab-coat. To this end, he and Hayley had managed to persuade Cuddy to hire the same event planners they had used for that evening.

Cuddy had been apprehensive at first about Hayley's involvement in the planning of such an important event for the hospital but when House finally admitted why exactly he was taking such an interest in the event she had taken it upon herself to help in anyway possible. There was also the added bonus of Hayley being an absolute demon when it came to organising; something House would never have reckoned upon, but Cuddy was delighted with Hayley's determination to plan such a perfect evening that she herself had ended up having almost no involvement in the planning, and had been able to look forward to the event.

"'Okay?' Cameron mocked? "It's amazing, House, admit it."

"Not as amazing as that dress." House muttered under his breath, but Cameron heard him and blushed. Hayley heard too, and smiled.

"I'm going to head on up to House's office then, and I'll see you both for the dinner in a few hours?" She told Cameron, who nodded.

"I'll call up when we're heading over, don't put your music on too loud."

"Actually, call my cell. I might not stay in the office all the time." Cameron raised an eyebrow.

"Where exactly might you go?" She questioned. There was really nowhere available for a seventeen year old to keep herself occupied, other than House's office with its extensive music options, video games and television. Hayley shrugged.

"I might go for a walk or something. Dinner isn't until eight thirty; I'll get bored up there all by myself. And after dinner I'll probably just head home, since you guys are gonna come back down here and gamble away more of your hard-earned salary until the small hours of the morning, right?"

"Right." House agreed, but Cameron shook her head.

"I'm not planning on gambling _away_ anything. My salary is too hard-earned to waste on poker." House took a small step-backwards, throwing his hand across his chest in a fake display of shock.

"Are you implying that working for me is a _chore_?" he asked with mock-gravity. Hayley rolled her eyes as Cameron giggled.

"Have fun, guys. I'll see you later." Hayley told the pair before walking off in the direction of the elevators. She caught sight of Wilson and Cuddy standing near one of the poker tables and gave a small wave, but they looked deep in conversation.

* * *

Hayley stepped into the elevator and allowed the doors to close on her. But instead of pressing the button for the fourth floor, where House's office was, she chose the second floor; where the hospital's function room was located. Hayley had marvelled at a hospital having its own function room but found it had many other uses, including being used for Lamaze classes and exercise groups as well as a multitude of conferences.

Tonight the function room had been transformed. A stage had been erected in one corner where the band were setting up, and in front of it was a dance floor. Tables were arranged around the edge of the dance floor, each set for eight people with elegantly subtle centrepieces. Waiting staff from the catering team Cuddy had hired were milling around, straightening tablecloths and arranging cutlery and wine-glasses and other odd-jobs to set up for the dinner later that evening.

On the stage one of the musicians looked up briefly, and spotted Hayley wandering around the room glancing at table settings, switching the odd name card or two. He caught her eye and waved, beckoning her over.

"Hey there beautiful girl." Kyle greeted her, hopping down from the stage and twirling her around in his arms. Hayley squealed as he spun her, and as Kyle set her down Hayley kept her arms wrapped around his neck, kissing him.

"That dress is amazing." Kyle told her, after a catcall from one of the other band members made Hayley pull away.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Hayley replied, walking around Kyle, inspecting his tuxedo. That had been one of Cuddy's conditions in allowing Kyle's band to play at the dinner; all members had to wear tuxedos. Since the entire band was in still in college, they had owned precisely one tux between them, resulting in House hiring out four tuxedos on his credit card.

"I knew you only wanted me for my body." Kyle laughed as she checked him out, and Hayley grinned wickedly.

"Absolutely. Is everything set up for later?"

"Yeah, the guys still think I'm going soft on them – letting my girlfriend plan the entire set, but since you also got us the gig they're putting up with it." Hayley giggled.

"Oh you poor baby, being teased by all his friends. I guess I'll just have to make it up to you, won't I?"

"What did you have in mind?" Kyle asked, circling his arms around Hayley's waist and pulling her close to him.

"Well…I'm supposed to be spending the next few hours in House's office…and he has an incredibly comfortable couch…" She smirked suggestively and Kyle grinned.

"I don't have to be back down here until eight for the final sound check…lead the way."

* * *

As soon as House had seen Hayley enter the elevator he had taken Cameron by the hand and tried to lead her over to one of the poker tables. She had resisted slightly, explaining.

"House, I don't want to play, I'll just watch you."

"You come to a Casino-themed benefit, and yet you won't play poker?" House questioned.

"Key word there is 'benefit' – it's good for the hospital, but if I actually play poker, it won't be so good for my bank balance!"

"You know how to play poker," House told her.

"No, I know how to play _strip poker_," Cameron hissed, "and somehow I don't think that's going to make me a whole lot of money tonight."

"Well…" House smirked, his tone making Cameron blush.

"House, I really don't mind not playing. I'll watch you, be your good luck charm."

"In that dress the only think you'll do is distract me, but if you really don't want to play…"

"I really don't…"

"…then you don't have to." Cameron smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, attracting the attention of several other hospital employees.

Without knowing it, the second Cameron had entered the foyer of the hospital at House's side virtually everyone at the benefit had snuck looks at them – wondering if they were back together or if they had just arrived at the same time. Now, as House's non-cane-holding hand snaked around to Cameron's bare back and he pulled her towards him, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders, and they engaged in what could only be described as a movie-style make-out session right there in the middle of the clinic, not one single person in the room debated the state of their relationship.

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I actually like this chapter, a lot, so I hope you did too. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! 


	49. Chapter 49

So here it is...the last official chapter. It makes me incredibly sad to post it, because it means that all that is left is the Epilogue. I really hope people have enjoyed reading Mommy Issues as much as I've enjoyed writing it. This last chapter actually gave me goosebumps and butterflies and things...so I hope you like it! Please review, it'd be so cool to hit 1000 reviews for the entire story.

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Hayley groaned. The bleeping of the alarm on Kyle's cell-phone wasn't going away. She had insisted that he set it for 7.50pm, so that he didn't miss the final sound-check, but now, as she extricated herself from his arms, she deeply regretted it.

Kyle sat back on the couch, fumbling in his jacket pocket for his cell-phone. Hayley looked around the office, trying to find her shoe, which had ended up on the other side of the room underneath one of House's bookcases. She checked her make-up in the reflection of the glass wall, and re-pinned several strands of hair which had escaped.

"You nervous?" Kyle asked her, noticing how she when she turned to look at him she was twisting the ribbon of her corsage around her fingers.

"No." she lied. Kyle raised an eyebrow, smiling at her knowingly.

"Everything's going to be fine – it's all going to work out."

"And if it doesn't?" Kyle asked, earning him a scolding look from Hayley.

"Don't even think it. It _will_ work." She leaned forward and kissed him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." Kyle nodded, untwisting one of the shoulder straps on Hayley's dress. "Let's do this."

* * *

Downstairs House was had almost $1400 in chips piled in front of him. There were three other players at the table; Wilson, the head of Paediatrics and one of the technicians from Radiology. As the stakes had climbed higher more and more people gathered around to watch the action. Given that two of the players were House and Wilson, interest in the game's outcome was high.

Stood close enough behind him as to monitor his actions, but not so close as to be a distraction, Cameron was stood talking to a group of nurses from the ER. Mostly they were trying to get details on her relationship with House; one of them had clearly had too much alcohol and was obsessed with details of their relationship "in the bedroom" as she termed it. Cameron's attention however was focused entirely on House. Somewhere along the way he had shrugged off his dinner jacket and bowtie, and undone the top button of his shirt. She wasn't surprised that he was so into the game; no matter what House did his mind was almost always 100 focused on that activity.

When she saw him raise another $100 her jaw dropped slightly, as did the jaws of two of the other players still left in the game. The two doctors who weren't Wilson folded, drawing a slight murmur from the crowd. Wilson narrowed his eyes at House, an almost imperceptible gesture which House appeared to ignore. Wilson saw House's bet, and called it. Cameron noticed the way the muscles in House's shoulders tensed slightly as he lay down his cards, revealing three Kings. The crowd surrounding the table drew in a breath as Wilson took one final glance at his cards before setting them down.

"Royal Flush." He stated, proudly displaying the cards. House smirked as Wilson pulled all the chips towards him, accepting thanks from members of the crowd. Somewhere behind all the commotion a voice sounded, announcing that dinner would shortly be served, and asking that all guests make their way to the function room on the second floor. As the assembled crowd virtually stampeded towards the stairwells Cameron moved forwards, resting her hands on House's shoulders. He relaxed into her hands as she massaged his tense muscles and leaned forward to kiss his cheek; her hair brushing against him.

"You let him win?" she whispered, so quietly that House almost didn't hear her. Wilson, oblivious to the couple, piled the chips he had one and handed them to one of the attendants to be cashed later before making his way towards the stairwells, surrounded by various nurses. House nodded his head slightly, the movement barely noticeable. Cameron smiled, not understanding why now, after years of borrowing money, House would suddenly decide to let his friend win a game of poker, but knowing that he would have a reason.

"You should call Hayley." House told her.

"I should…" Cameron murmured, her fingers tightening on his shoulders as she kissed lower, onto his neck. "But I'd rather do this…"

"Much as I'd love for you to keep doing that, you need to call your sister, and we need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Cameron complained, still trying to kiss House's neck, despite his efforts to stand up. House might have been inclined to believe her, had her stomach not rumbled at that very moment. House raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Ok, so I am hungry, but not necessarily just for food." Cameron told him. House stood up finally, unhooking his cane from its place on the edge of the table and wrapping his free arm around Cameron's waist.

"I should get you dressed up more often." He replied.

* * *

When House and Cameron entered the function room they found Hayley already sat at their table, sipping at a glass of what looked like champagne and making conversation with Chase's date – an old school friend who seemed to more into him than he was into her. On Hayley's right side was a vacant chair, and on her left were two more, evidently for House and Cameron. The other chairs at the table were occupied by Foreman and his date, one of the nurses whom he had dated earlier in the year. Both of them were mystified as to how they had ended up sitting together, given that they had arrived with different partners – who were now sat together on a table in the far corner of the room.

As they reached the table House pulled out one of the free chairs for Cameron, the one next to Hayley, but she didn't sit down right away; instead she leaned across the table to remove the champagne glass from her sister's hand. She took a sip of it herself and then sat down in the seat House was offering, with the glass still in her hand. Hayley looked mildly irritated, but amused at the same time.

"You have lipstick on your shirt." She announced, addressing House but looking at Cameron, who barely blushed.

"You have a hickey on your collarbone." The older of the two sisters replied, her voice hushed and with a playful smile on her face. Hayley raised a hand to her neck, embarrassed but Cameron giggled.

"What I want to know is who gave it to you; I thought Kyle had a gig tonight?"

"He does." Hayley answered, pointing over towards where the band was just beginning to play the first song.

"He's playing here? You never told me!"

"I didn't know until the other day," Hayley lied, crossing her fingers under the table and trying to avoid catching House's eye. He was seated on the other side of Cameron, clearly listening in on their conversation but pretending to study his place setting.

"He scrubs up well, who'd have thought it?" Cameron joked as Kyle stood back to allow Dr. Cuddy to take the microphone. He hushed the band and the several hundred guests at the benefit turned their attention to Cuddy.

* * *

"I'm stuffed." Hayley moaned, sitting back in her seat.

"Are you serious?" Cameron asked, reaching over and pretending to feel Hayley's forehead.

"It sucks, right? We're not even onto dessert yet and I can't eat another bite!" Cameron giggled, the champagne she had been sipping at having gone to her head. House leaned forward to look at Hayley.

"If it's going spare…" Hayley rolled her eyes and passed her plate over to him.

"So what do you think of the band?" Hayley asked Foreman and Chase, who had been watched the exchanges between House and the two sisters with much interest all through dinner.

"They're good," Foreman nodded.

"Yeah, quite a different kind of music from what Cuddy normally gets in…" Chase mused.

"I'm dating the lead guitarist and singer." Hayley told them conspiratorially.

"Which would explain why he's on his way over here," commented Chase's date Marianne; pointing over Hayley's shoulder to where Kyle was making his way through the crowded tables.

"Hey," he said, kissing Hayley on the top of her head.

"I saved you a seat," she told him; indicating the seat beside her that had remained empty throughout the evening. Kyle sat down next to her, absent-mindedly stroking his thumb over her hand.

"You sound great." Hayley said, "I like hearing you play."

"We have a quick break before they serve the desserts and then Dr. Cuddy said about dancing…so we're changing the set a little; more covers than our own stuff."

"But I like your stuff," Cameron suddenly interrupted. "It's a really unique sound; you shouldn't have to play other people's songs." House rolled his eyes at her input to the conversation and Hayley leaned towards Kyle, muttering conspiratorially;

"Someone's been at the champagne. It always goes right to her head" Kyle laughed, whispering in her ear.

"Well you'd better get some coffee down her quick otherwise she'll be in no fit state." Hayley nodded against him.

"If you'll all excuse me," Kyle said, standing up slowly, "I have to go get ready for the rest of the evening. Have a good time, guys."

"See you later," Hayley replied as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Ah, young love." Cameron sighed. House signalled a passing waiter, and requested that he bring a pot of coffee and a glass of water to their table.

"You're going to have such a headache in the morning!" Hayley giggled at her sister.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you've enjoyed the music so far this evening…we're going to slow things down a little now and I'd like to invite you all to dance." Kyle announced into the microphone, gesturing towards the dance floor in front of him. Behind him on the stage one of the bassists had swapped instruments and was now playing a saxophone, the sound resonating clearly in the room.

"Oh I love this song," Marianne, Chase's date, exclaimed, clutching at his hand and practically jumping out of her seat. Fortunately for her, several glasses of champagne had made Chase a lot more amicable to her and he allowed himself to be led out onto the dance floor. Prompted by his colleague, Foreman offered his hand to Wendy, who accepted it and the pair got up to dance.

By about halfway through the set, most of the guests at the benefit were dancing, with the exception of a few. Wilson and Cuddy were seated closely together at their table, deep in a conversation which seemed to be punctuated with the occasional kiss if anyone had been paying close enough attention. House, Hayley and Cameron were still seated, listeing to Kyle's band. They were playing a majority of slow, jazz and blues type music; slow songs which Hayley had insisted should be played for the final part of the evening.

"I'll be right back." House excused himself, unhooking his cane from the edge of the table and standing up.

"Where are you going?" Cameron asked him, more sober now thanks to the coffee and water which House and Hayley had insisted she consume.

"Bathroom. I'll be back soon." House promised, kissing her cheek quickly before making his exit. Cameron sighed and Hayley turned in her seat to look at her.

"What?"

"I am hopelessly in love with that man." Cameron said, almost absently and to herself. Hayley smiled.

"I think he's just as hopelessly in love with you."

"You really think?" Cameron asked, playing with the ribbon on the corsage he had given her.

"I know." Hayley assured her, nodding towards the stage where the band were finishing their song. Cameron looked over, to see House stood at the foot of the stage talking to Kyle.

As the band began to play the opening bars of the song Cameron's jaw dropped. "This is my favourite song," she gasped, before being shocked further at the sight of House striding purposefully towards her through the crowd of dancers, without his cane and without the slightest suggestion that at any point in his life he had needed one. The dancers stood back, shocked, to watch House approach Cameron and hold his hand out to her.

"Dance with me." He asked her, the question more of a statement. Cameron was speechless, but managed to collect herself enough to slip her hand into House's and allow him to lead her onto the dance floor. House nodded to Kyle, who had kept the band playing the introduction during House's display, and the song continued as Kyle began to sing. House placed Cameron's hands on his shoulders and his own on her waist and began to move slowly to the music.

"How did you…?" Cameron finally managed to stammer out, tears forming in her eyes. House shook his head.

"Not important."

"But…"

"Right now, all that's important is that I'm in love with you."

"I'm in love with you too."

* * *

Sob!! Who knew that after all the nasty angst I had such fluff inside me?!?! The song, incidentally, is You and I by Michael Buble, who just happens to be my favourite singer and that song is my favourite song.

PLEASE review?!?! I hate the thought of this being practically over so I need all the reviews I can get!!


	50. Epilogue

So...I planned on writing this absolutely ages ago, but never really felt like I had the rigt words to finish it...hence the looong break. However, I'm still getting reviews for M.I months after completing, and I was on a train yesterday and suddenly felt inspired. I hope you like it!

_Some years later_

Cameron sighed as she sank down onto the couch. She curled her legs up underneath her, tucking the oversized sweater she was wearing over her knees.

"You ok?" House asked, handing her a mug of coffee and sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, just tired." Cameron replied, snuggling up against him. House smirked.

"Parties will do that to you. Especially a party thrown by your sister."

"It wasn't so much the party; _that_ was fun – although having a 21 year old sister makes me feel incredibly old. No, I was referring more to the crazy amount of dancing you forced me into!" Cameron protested, playfully swatting House on the arm. He held his own mug of coffee away from his body as the hot liquid threatened to spill.

"Hey, I still have about five years worth of dancing to catch up on – you better watch out. And anyway, you know you loved it really," He told her. Cameron nodded against him;

"I suppose it was one of the better evenings we've experienced lately."

"Better how?" House replied, his scandalised tone implying shock at the slight on his entertaining ability.

"Well, for starters I didn't once have to check my entire outfit for stray splodges of baby food, baby vomit or other bodily fluids…" Cameron pondered. House grinned.

"One of the highlights for me too – you have _not_ smelt too sweet lately."

"Hey! Whose idea was it to have three children in the space of four years?" Cameron slapped House on the thigh and raising an eyebrow; implying that if House wanted to even try for more children in the future he would be careful with his words.

"Hey, I thought we already agreed – Phoebe and Anna are totally a result of my inability to keep my hands off my gorgeous wife; but Sam? You couldn't keep your hands off me that night!"

"Need I remind you that you had just declared undying love, proposed _and_ revealed that you had had life-altering surgery in the space of about ten minutes; and also that you had done so incredibility publicly? Can you really blame me for being slightly in the mood?" House laughed loudly at Cameron's way with words.

"Ok, all three kids are my fault."

"Well, I wouldn't say _fault_, but yes – all three times we got pregnant were as a result of some action of yours. I'm glad we agree. Now, where were we?"

"You were listing the reasons this night has been so good. What else?"

"Well, being able to converse with mature adults about music and art and medicine, rather than trying to explain to a petulant two year old why we have to wear clothes instead of running around naked all the time. She gets that from you, you know."

"But why _do_ we have to wear clothes? The world would be a much better place if everyone just walked around naked." House asked, toying with the hem on Cameron's sweater. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"That would _not_ be a good idea, certainly not in this house."

"Not even naked weekends?" House whined, giving Cameron the puppy-dog eyes he knew she couldn't resist.

"No, Genius-Husband of mine; have you forgotten the result of our last naked weekend? Kind of small, has your eyes, goes by the name of Samuel James?"

As if on cue, the sound of a wailing child issued from a bedroom upstairs. House groaned.

"I'll go," Cameron assured him, but before she could stand the sound of a second child joined with the wails of the first. House laughed.

"You take Sam, I'll take Anna and I'll meet you in the bedroom in twenty?" He suggested with a hopeful smile. Cameron laughed.

"Make it fifteen and you've got a deal."

On the other side of town, Hayley sat down on her own couch, balancing a plate of waffles in one hand and holding two forks in another. She handed the plate to the guy next to her, along with one of the forks and without waiting for him to begin, started eating.

"So, did you enjoy your party?" Kyle asked as Hayley licked syrup from her fingers. She nodded, grinning.

"It was so good to see Allie and Greg without the kids. I mean, I _love_ my nieces and my little guy, but it's been like 4 years! She's almost constantly surrounded by small people!"

"I think you may have had a little too much champagne." Kyle commented, reaching out to wipe away a smudge of syrup from Hayley's chin.

"Do you know, I think I may have." Hayley giggled. "You know how it always goes to my head."

"We should be careful then, if I remember rightly whenever you Cameron girls get on the champagne you end up making life-altering decisions."

"How so?" Hayley asked. Kyle smiled as Hayley continued to tuck into the waffles; almost completely oblivious to what he was saying.

"Well, last time Alison got into the champagne she ended up engaged and pregnant – remember?"

"Huh?"

"When the Wilson's got married? Seriously, how much of that stuff did you have?!" Kyle asked when Hayley looked at him blankly.

"Oh, I remember now. James and Lisa both made toasts about how if it weren't for Greg's romantic gesture at the Benefit they never would have been able to confess their true feelings and live happily ever after…right?"

"Right. Except of course we both know that it was your little gesture of swapping over place settings which really got them going, don't we?"

"Just call me the Relationship-Fairy." Hayley giggled. She leaned forward and kissed Kyle gently on the lips. "Ooh, you're all sticky."

"Actually, hun, I think that's you."

"Oh. Whoops. You want me to make more?" She asked him, gesturing towards the corner of the kitchen where the waffle maker stood amongst debris of scattered ingredients.

"I'm not so sure I trust you with electrical appliances right now."

"Probably a good thing." Hayley commented, rounding the edge of the breakfast bar and coming to stop in front of Kyle.

"What's with all this talk of engagements and weddings and stuff anyways?" Hayley asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning towards him.

"Well, I should probably wait until you're a little more sober, and therefore more likely to remember…"

"Hey! When have I ever not remembered anything, regardless of how inebriated I was when I first heard the information?" Hayley objected.

"Jeez woman, would you just shut up, I'm trying to ask you something!" Kyle said, with mock annoyance. Hayley furrowed her brow, recognising the serious tone in his voice.

"Hayley, we've been together for almost five years now. I have loved you since the very first day I saw you in that coffee shop with your sister, and I've known for a long time that you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me…?"

"Who could be calling at this hour?" Cameron asked blearily, sitting up in bed and staring at the clock on her side table. She reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Allie? Guess what…!"

The End


End file.
